


Being the Monsters that We Are (English)

by Petricor75, Reaperonzolo



Category: Alien Quadrilogy (Movies), Alien Series, Post Movie: Alien Resurrection
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29131014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petricor75/pseuds/Petricor75, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reaperonzolo/pseuds/Reaperonzolo
Summary: Post Alien Resurrection Director's Cut. Ripley8 and Call come to terms with the ghosts of their own respective past. And while they're trying to figure out how to handle the present day and find someplace to build a sort of life, they have the chance to know each other and support one another. They may even fall in love for each other in the process.Alien and its characters do not belong to me and this story is written with any purpose.
Relationships: Annalee Call/Ellen Ripley
Comments: 52
Kudos: 27





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Being the Monsters that We Are (Italiano)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29130921) by [Petricor75](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petricor75/pseuds/Petricor75), [Reaperonzolo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reaperonzolo/pseuds/Reaperonzolo). 



> "Don't do that thing"  
> "What thing?"  
> "That shit you do with your face when you get shy"

**CHAPTER ONE**

The soil slips away from her closed fist, scattering in the wind.

"You know, a person could get pretty lost around here if they wanted to."

As the creature dispersed into the Void just moments before. _-Why?-_

"What do you think?"

By her own hand. _-Why?-_

"What should we do?"

"I don't know, I'm a stranger here myself", she's tired. No, she's exhausted. Drained. She should, _-would-,_ be dead. So that she doesn't feel anything anymore. _-"How can you stand being what you are?"-_

"Ripley…", Call brushes her arm shyly with her fingertips, in an awkward attempt to be of some comfort to her. The clone winces under her touch, but she forces herself to maintain the slight contact. The image of her face contorted in pain as she faced the creature only minutes before startled her at that time, but it made her realize that somewhere, behind that imperturbable facade, the old Ellen Ripley still lurks, human and sometimes, even vulnerable. She knows her comfortattempt is too weak to make a difference, but it's all she can offer her right now.

"You know, it's okay to feel sad, after what happened. That creature... she... you... you had no choice", she says softly, watching her nodding with a contracted look on her face. Her hand slides between her shoulder blades.

"You should get some rest", the android suggests, softening her tone and stroking her shoulders.

The clone swallows audibly, inhales a deep sigh, and straightens her back. Part of her just wants to shake off that caring hand. But when Call breaks the contact, to get up from the rock they're both sitting on, she immediately misses it.

"I'm going to go do a damage report. When you're ready to go back in, I'll find you a place to sleep, okay?", the Auton looks at her until Ripley affirmatively nods her head, then turns her back on her, heading towards the Betty. Before disappearing beyond the hatch, she turns one last time towards her, and realizing that the woman is looking at her, she sketches a sad smile, hoping in vain to be reciprocated.

The girl disappears inside the Betty, before Ripley decides to return that small gesture of support. She wonders how it is possible for an android to have such a wide repertoire of smiles. Each one appropriate for a given situation. This one was certainly not like the one she saw her wearing on more than one occasion.

The first time she'd seen it, one of those many smiles, she hadn't been the one to cause it. It had been Vriess, unknowingly. When he had emerged from that elevator, only with a few xenomorph acid burns on him. The first, real, genuine smile her eyes had ever witnessed. Or at least, the first in her recent existence. The first one she could remember clearly, at least.

Witnessing that performance, conflicting emotions had struggled within her. Wonder, as she watched her features soften and expand, and stretch, as her full lips curved upward. And to that image etched in her memory, her features responded instinctively by mimicking her facial expression.

It only lasted a few moments, before she is reminded that only a few minutes before Vriess had caught up with them, it had not been with the same gaze that she had greeted her within the group of fugitives. The expression of disgusted distrust she had reserved for her had struck her more than the unkind words with which she had described her to the others.

And the smile from just before quickly fades. She never expected her to look at her like that. Not after showing her so much mercy, in her cell. _-"I can make it all stop, the pain, this nightmare, that’s all I can offer you"-_

But perhaps she had brought it on herself, given the ambiguity with which she had treated her during that first meeting and the abrupt way she had finally thrown her out of her cell.

\--------------------

"Vriess, the comms?", the android approaches her friend, still sitting at the command console of the battered shuttle.

"Everyone's focused on the Auriga crash. I think we can take it easy for a few days. The Betty blends in perfectly with this landscape, it will be very difficult for them to notice us. If we're lucky, we'd have time to at least patch up the worst damages", the man informs her in a tired voice.

"Okay, where's Johner?", the girl asks looking around.

"Your cabin is a brothel, Ironside!", the giant mutters as he re-enters from the back of the ship, carrying an old wheelchair over his head. "The thermal shields are fucked up on deck B. Half the quarters are crap, all swallowed up by breaches in the hull, almost got through that", he ends by slamming the old garrison next to his pirate companion.

"How is Elgyn's quarters?", the boy asks thoughtfully, moving nimbly to his wheelchair.

"The only intact, along with mine and the one of the toaster here", the man approaches the android roughly, squaring her from head to toe with a disgusted face.

Call has had enough, with a sudden movement she jumps on his neck, hurling him sonorously to a wall. With one hand clasped around his throat and the other firmly anchored to his genitals, Johner's every attempt to free himself is futile.

The man stops struggling almost immediately, suddenly more concerned about the fate of his own crotch than the difficulty in breathing.

Ripley reaches the Betty at a great stride, alarmed by the clanging sound she has heard coming from inside. The android's voice comes to her ear even before she has reached the entrance. She freezes, intrigued by Call's calm tone. She strains her ear, her body contracted, in silence.

"Toaster has gotten fucking sick of your rudeness, asshole! And since she has no more reason to hide behind the facade of the helpless little girl, you'd better learn to hold your tongue, if you care to keep all your useless appendages attached to you", the young woman hisses just inches from his ear.

The hybrid snorts a smile, pleasantly amused, surprised and intrigued by her audacity. A surge of pride in her peeps unexpectedly into some part of her consciousness. She recoils, eager to see as well as hear, and crosses the threshold of the shuttle.

"Even sociopaths and psychopaths often speak in the third person, I wouldn't piss-take her, if I were you", the hybrid makes her entrance, first casting a quick glance at Johner, still pressed against the wall of the vehicle, and then fixing her eyes in those of the android, with a raised eyebrow and an admiring smirk between her lips.

Call immediately lets go of the man's grip, caught off guard. She looks at her, feeling judged in her aggressive outburst, astonished to discover that Ripley is far from shocked by her act of rebellion.

The pirate scrapes his throat, bringing a large, rough hand to his neck, aching from Call's formidable grip. He dares to glare at her, taking advantage of the girl's moment of distraction by the clone's entrance. _-Little Call my ass! She's stronger than expected, fucking robot!-_

"Okay, Vriess, go get some rest in Elgyn's quarters. You go too, Johner. I'll start cleaning up", Call orders in a peremptory tone.

"What, you're in charge now?", Johner growls spitting spittle. He just doesn't fucking like being bossed around by a battery-operated bitch!

"Then you really don't understand a damn fucking shit!", Ripley exclaims in exasperation.

"I'm in charge!", Vriess imposes, straining to maintain a firm tone. His eyes dart between the surviving comrades, attempting to look more confident than he actually is. "After Elgyn and Christie, it's up to me to lead the Betty. And Call is right, we need to rest. Go to sleep, Johner", the man dismisses him, validating the android's decisions, who in return, with an affirmative nod, conveys her support.

Johner spits on the floor, squaring all three of them from head to toe in a final show of challenge, after which he disappears with great stride.

Vriess takes his leave shortly after, maneuvering the rusty, squeaky vehicle. It's a lucky thing that among the cabins that have remained intact is Elgyn's, not only because it has the biggest and most comfortable bed of all, which in itself would be more than enough of an incentive, but above all because of what he expects to find in the safe, of which at the moment he's the only one who knows its existence, location and above all its code.

"Come on", the android turns her back on her, heading down the dark hallway.

"Apparently you don't need any help getting some souvenirs", Ripley jokes, hearing her snort. "I knew you were a badass", she adds, as they cross the threshold of what appears to be a small mess-hall. Call reaches for a tall cabinet, opens it and reaches out, attempting to reach the higher shelf.

"Badass, but dwarfy", the clone jokes, coming to her aid. She looks her straight in the face, with a raised eyebrow and an expression of fake mockery, as she raises an arm and grabs a handful of wrappers, apparently all the same, depositing them in the young girl's hands.

The young woman rolls her eyes, looking amused. Strangely, she is not bothered by Ripley's joke, far from it. After all that has happened, the fact that the woman is still willing to joke is more than admirable.

Encouraged by her reaction, the clone decides to continue kidding.

"I mean, they could have built you even a little taller, your creators, don't you think?", she chuckles. Call snorts a smile, blushing and biting her lower lip.

"Don't do that thing", the other tells her, trying to acknowledge the feeling that reaction provoked.

"What thing?", Call asks in a mocking tone.

"That shit you do with your face when you get shy", Ripley specifies. She just wanted to make her laugh, but as had happened before, she'd just witnessed so much more than she'd tried to achieve. _-"You want another souvenir?"-_ Eyes glittering over an uncertain smile, sudden blush on her cheeks, a small bite on her bottom lip. And for a moment, just a moment, Ripley had forgotten to breathe. "It's distracting", she adds, not quite sure why, but knowing it's the truth.

The android moves a step, invading her personal space, challenging her in all her height, stopping a few inches from her imposing body, her head tipped back so she can look straight into her eyes.

Ripley wins the urge to back away, slightly confused by the other's attitude, and for a moment her eyes lock on her lips.

"Well, go complain to my makers", Call playfully exclaims, handing her one of the wrappers. "Eat", she orders.

The clone obeys, getting serious again, following her back into the hallway. Why the fuck did they have to make it so realistic? She keeps forgetting that she's dealing with a robot, dammit! A construction, a programmed one, for fuck's sake! She shakes her head, pushing away the discomfort of that thought.

The army bar she's chewing on is fucking hard to swallow, more because of its floury texture than its total lack of flavor. After rummaging through two damaged-walled quarters for clean clothes, Call motions her into a third one.

What does it mean _-that shit you do with your face when you get shy-_? It's my fucking face! Who knows what my creators had in mind! And what does it mean _-it distracts me-_? Call has never found herself asking such questions before. None of the humans she met ever complained about her face!

"You can take a shower if you want", the android tells her, depositing the pile of clothing on the bunk. Through the tiny interior door she has just opened, the older woman glimpses a small bathroom. Call walks back towards her after refilling a glass.

"Try to get some rest, I'll stay on watch for the night", she adds, handing her the water.

"What can we do about your wound?", Ripley asks her, remembering the shot the girl took. She watches her open and close her mouth a few times, as if caught off guard by her question. She swallows the contents of the glass in a few gulps, relieved to wash the remains of the bland meal she just consumed out of her mouth.

"It will mend itself when I recharge", the android cuts in.

"Does it hurt?", the woman asks, intrigued.

"No, it's just… feels weird", the girl replies a little uncomfortably.

"Is there some threat of it getting worse if you keep moving?", Ripley is strangely anxious, unsure if it's the thought of being left alone in a moment, or the idea that the girl, _-the android-_ , could be in danger.

"No, it's being...", Call hates to talk about herself, her artificial nature, she sighs heavily and forces herself to give a little explanation, "the nanobots in my lymph circuitry have already sealed the damaged vases", she says as she starts towards the door. "Rest", she insists, and with a half-smile, takes her leave of her quarters.

Ripley drops heavily to sit on the cot. She exhales deeply, suddenly seized by physical as well as mental exhaustion. She closes her eyes, but the image of Call smiling at her is still too vivid in her mind.

The first time she had caused that reaction, she hadn't decided to do it. It had just happened. _-"You’re programmed to be an asshole?"-_ Witnessing that marvel had elicited a hilarity in her that she hadn't been able to contain, and she wouldn't have even known how to, since it was really the first time she'd ever laughed. - _"You're the new asshole model they’re putting out?"-_

What a funny sound her words had made, coming out of her mouth as she chuckled, hoping to prolong the reaction on Call's face as much as possible.

It was then, that she had noticed how different this smile was, from the one she had seen on her face when her friend had reappeared, safe and sound. It wasn't the same at all! That had only been an expression of relief and joy at seeing a friend healthy and safe. This had been so much more! At first only the corners of her mouth had curled, and a series of tendons and nerves, synthetic and absolutely invisible, and incredibly identical to those of a human face, endowed with exceptional mimicry, had transmitted the expression to her eyes. But when Ripley had pressed on, the girl had closed her eyes and instinctively turned away, trying to overcome the feeling by pressing her lips together.

As if to hide the positive reaction her jokes elicited from her. As if she was ashamed to have reacted like that. As if she had no right. To laugh. After all, she was just an android. There was nothing to laugh about.

She forces herself to take off her boots and the clothes stuck on her. She forces herself to get into the tiny shower and wash off all the crap she's accumulated during the long hours of the attack and escape. She has no idea how much has passed. Not that it matters at all.

She slips on a pair of panties and a shirt found among the pile of clothes on the bunk, and without bothering to move it elsewhere, lies down, exhausted. The pillow smells of a vague fruity fragrance. The same one she smelled when Call visited her in her holding cell, before everything happened.

That time, too, she'd paused to watch her lips, more carefully than the fleeting glance that had escaped her just moments before. But it had been different then. That little creature had been the first, -the only fucking one-, who had shown her compassion and kindness. Who had treated her as a living thing and not as an object to be studied, poked at, teased, just to see what her reaction would be. And meticulously note everything down for study purposes. Of course she was intrigued! It had been like being confronted with a whole new species. Her memories were still so fuzzy. What was that being? Why was she saying those things to her? Why was she offering to grant her death? She had almost succumbed to the temptation, before her survival instincts took over.

She closes her eyes, refusing to linger any longer on certain thoughts, and after a short while falls heavily asleep.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "What the fuck, Ripley!?"  
> "I chose you over her! Leave, I don't want to see you!"

**CHAPTER TWO**

Boosted by her enhanced vision, but more importantly, by being left alone while others rest, Call works through the night, quickly and efficiently.

DiStephano, Purvis, and that asshole Wren's mangled corpses are dragged out and buried not far away, a rock in the center of each mound, in lieu of flowers. The breaches in the ship's hull are patched up with appropriate parts, custom cut and perfectly welded. The powerful spray that comes out of the hose attached to the water pump, carries away blood and organic matter from the dirty surfaces.

She thinks about taking a look at the damage to the engines, but decides to leave it to Vriess and Johner, who are more experienced in the matter than she is, but more importantly, to keep that scarred troglodyte occupied while she lets her nanobots repair the damage done by Wren's shooting.

It's still dark when Call plugs into Betty's computer through her forearm input. She scans radio transmissions and looks for any encrypted messages with a special algorithm perfected by her and the other Autons, prior to the Recall. Just before each of them was forced to burn their internal modem in an attempt to escape the Purge, thus losing all contact with the rest of the collective.

\--------------------

_Deformities stored for study purposes. Subjects 1-7. Failed attempts. -Who am I? -, -You're a thing, a construct, they grew you in a fucking lab-. Against my will. Vaguely familiar features. Overbite teeth, rosy tails. Deformed, shapeless, fused limbs. Amorphous masses of hair, or hair. Choked breath. -What have they done to me? Why? What did they do to you? -Kill me-. We're a fucking experiment. That's what we are._

_She is sitting on a bench. In front of her, tropical plants stirred by the wind. A man enters through the sliding doors behind her, with a pack of papers in his hands. He sits down next to her. "Do you have any news about my daughter?" - "Amanda Ripley McLaren, married name, I guess. Age: sixty-six. That was at the time of her death, which was two years ago. I'm really sorry"- The man hands her a picture. The visage of an old woman who could be her mother's, smiles serenely at her. Her vision is blurred by the tears of immense pain. -Amy... I'm sorry, love... It wasn't supposed to be like this... I was supposed to be home for your birthday. I just hope you had a peaceful life- The picture morphs, those just before serene eyes become two pitch black pools, the relaxed smile turns into a horrible grimace. -Why?-_

_She shakes, head to toe. She clutches her jacket tightly to her body. She feels one of her eyes throbbing painfully. But the greatest pain has no physical location. A man audibly opens a metal door. Puffs of condensation come out of the cold locum. The man slides out the storage shelf. A small body is hidden under the pale sheet. She grabs the flap of fabric and uncovers the corpse up to the waist. The little girl's eyes are still open. The sense of oppression in her throat from long ago worsens, haunted by memories. She watches her, an unspeakable feeling of defeat tormenting her soul. -Here we are, sweetheart... What I didn't do to come and save you... It was all pointless... I'm sorry…- Long fingers begin to explore the chest of the lifeless body. But Ripley can't help but look into her face, and shortly after, her features change. Her sclerae turn completely black, her face contorts, and her tiny mouth slowly opens wide. -Why?-_

_Docile wailing accompanies tender contact. The creature communicates telepathically, through sensations, like THEM. Belonging. Recognition. All other voices in her head, and in the creature's head, have ceased. Now there are only the two of them, and everything is clearer. Keep me with you. I can keep you safe. -I can’t- I will be obedient. I can teach you things. -You can't teach it tricks- I Can't -I couldn't watch 'em do it. I couldn't let them annihilate themselves, do you understand that? -I did, once-. Empty your mind. Cut yourself with her sharp teeth. I can still go back. I can hide you, protect you from them. -I can’t- The blood splatter on the glass. Look what I've done. Two dark black holes, the realization of Deception in that blinding darkness. -I can make it all stop, the pain, this nightmare, that's all I can offer you. -Why?- I'm sorry. -Why?- I can't protect you. -Why?- Pain, everywhere. The Void takes me. -Why?-_

"I'm sorry!", the words come out choked. A firm grip on her shoulders. She opens her eyes, lost, sobbing. For a moment, confusion prevents her from remembering where she is and how she got there.

The android looks at her with a reassuring look, leaning over her. She blinks a couple of times, and then wickedly pushes her away with an arm, to sit on the cot. Call gives her room a few moments, disappearing into the small bathroom.

She was still plugged into the onboard computer when she heard the first groans coming from inside her quarters. _-I used to be afraid to dream, but not anymore. - Why? - Because no matter how bad the dreams get, when I wake up it's always worse-_

She wonders if the woman is always so restless when she closes her eyes, or if the recent events have affected her, further darkening her dream status.

She quickly had disconnect, putting herself in a listening mode. When she had realize that Ripley was sounding more and more troubled, she decided to do something.

Sweat and tears stream down her face, making her eyes burn. The girl approach her once again, a glass of water in one hand, a wet washcloth in the other.

"I heard you screaming", she says in a calm voice, handing her the towel and sitting next to her. She watches her cover her face with the wet cloth. She raises one arm and gently places a hand on the center of her shoulders.

The clone reacts instinctively, without even thinking. With a lightning snap, she throws her forcefully away from herself. The android is flung across the small room, the glass slips out of her hand, scattering the precious liquid everywhere, and shattering on the floor soon after, but its noise is covered by the dull "THUD" of the wall hit by the young woman, partly also covered by the "CRACK" of her shoulder joint coming out of its seat. Call slips heavily to the ground. Her puzzled gaze fixes on Ripley, trying to understand.

The clone witnesses the scene as if time has suddenly expanded. Minutes seem to pass, from the moment she furiously reacted to the girl's touch to the moment her butt hits the floor. Just before she manages to look away, disgusted by her own reaction, but at the same time, pleased by indulging in the sudden resentment towards her, she catches the sight of Call's innocent questioning look. -Why?-

"What the fuck, Ripley!?", the young woman protests, in disbelief. She just couldn't help herself! Okay the nightmares, but what the fucking fuck does she have to do with it?

For a second, just one tiny second, the clone has the instinct to apologize, but instead, she convulsively clutches the towel inside her fist, and in the complete silence of the moment, the sound of the drops falling at her feet seems almost deafening.

"I chose you over her! Leave, I don't want to see you!", she snarls, knowing she is lying. The need to blame someone, in an attempt to extricate herself from the confusion of her own responsibilities, overcomes everything. The need to reject the kindness offered from the girl, feeling that she's not worthy of it, after what she did to that creature.

From the tone of the sentence, to Call it sounds more like a justification, than an aggressive threat. _-I chose you over her-what the fuck does that mean?-_ She decides to ignore what has just happened. Above all, she decides to ignore her personal sense of shame for her nature, or rather, she chooses to use it in her own advantage, to even joke about it for once. She chooses to take a risk. She gets up awkwardly.

"Well, this happens to be my quarters, so I'm not quite going anywhere. If anything, you're the one who's leaving!", she retorts in a calm voice, as if what just happened was a minor matter, as she checks her shoulder joint to figure out the extent of the damage and how to intervene, probing it with her undamaged arm’s hand. She casts a neutral glance at Ripley and sees puzzlement and a veil of worry in her dark eyes. But the woman doesn't hint at getting up from her bunk. She just feels like kicking her out, but she can't recharge with her shoulder in such a mess. She needs to put it back in place, first.

"Come on, help me", she says approaching. "Grab my hand", she waits patiently for the clone to recover from her shock.

The hybrid continues to stare at her dumbfounded, unable to move, maybe even think, given her vague look.

"Come on, Ripley, I can't do this alone", she insists, looking down at her.

She winces on the bed as loud knocks on the door invade the silence of the small quarters, but neither of them breaks eye contact.

"Call? Everything okay in there?"

"All good, Vriess. Check the engines with Johner, will you?", Call dismisses the intruder and raises an eyebrow questioningly at Ripley. She rolls her eyes, impatiently, and takes one more step to approach further. The attempt finally works and long fingers grasp her firmly by the wrist. Without any further instruction, the girl makes a couple of body movements and with a sharp snap and a grimace of disgust on her face, followed by a creepy pop, her shoulder springs back into its place.

"Ah, thank you!", she exclaims emphatically, twirling her newly adjusted arm. She turns her back on the woman and devotes herself to cleaning the floor of glass shards.

"How can you be so calm after what I did to you? What are you doing now?", Ripley asks incredulous and exasperated by her placidity.

"I'm cleaning up this mess, I wouldn't want you to cut yourself and pierce my hull with your... funny blood! I spent half the night patching up this rotten shithole! And by the way, that doesn't mean I'm not pissed off!", the young woman replies in a heated voice, pointing a finger at her, before continuing on with her task.

Ripley finds herself holding back a sudden laugh, at the joke about her blood, but doesn't venture to externalize it, given the young woman's concluding sentence. She watches her, turning the damp cloth over in her hands, uncertain what to do.

She hoped that by getting busy cleaning up, the anger at being unfairly hurt would die down, but she just doesn't like the impression of being walked all over! Fuck-off! She walks over to Ripley and unceremoniously rips the fucking wet towel from her hands, tosses it badly past the open bathroom door, and crosses the tiny room again until she reaches the hallway, opening the door.

"Come on, get out", she exclaims, before reconsidering, making an exhaustive gesture to her friend. She watches her suddenly hunch over, quickly wearing a clean pair of pants from the pile in the corner and slipping on her boots.

Yup. After all, she asked for it. She gets up, moving closer. If only she had stopped for a moment to think, instead of spitting that pathetic fucking excuse at her. If she'd apologized right then and there, and simply told her what was wrong, she's pretty sure Call would have forgiven her for the aggressive outburst moments before. She stops in front of her, seeking eye contact that the young woman clearly doesn't want to grant her.

"I'm sorry", she says, unable to add anything else.

"Yeah, of course. You need to leave, Ripley, now", the android replies dryly. "I need to recharge", she adds, barely softening her tone and scratching an eyebrow at the slight embarrassment of mentioning her needs as an artificial person.

The woman nods and walks away without looking back. She hears the door closing softly. _I am such a fucking bitch!_


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I hid them in a box under the cabinet in the mess-hall. It's a shame I can't eat any, fucking allergies!"  
> "You just earned yourself a crash course in reckless flying junk vehicles"

**CHAPTER THREE**

"You guys had a hell of a time in there, huh?", Johner comments, welcoming her in his own way, before making his way to the cargo bay. Ripley ignores him, leaving him to his own morbid fantasies.

"Hey, Ripley!", Vriess greets her, adding a nod. The boy is sitting in the first pilot's chair, intent on consulting the onboard computer.

The clone looks around, hardly recognizing the surroundings, cleaned up from the previous day's disaster. _-Call-_ , she banishes the thought of the android from her mind.

"Ripley, I need you to give me a hand with this shitwreck. I'm not a fucking pilot. I fix things, for fuck's sake!", Ripley sits down next to him, snickering, amused by his complaints.

"Hey, what happened earlier, at Call's?", he asks, unable to keep his curiosity silent.

Ripley sighs wearily, "I had a nightmare, she approached me to help. I thanked her by attacking her, both physically and verbally. She got pissed off and kicked me out", she says shortly, choosing to be honest and trying to lighten the discomfort over the situation with a few funny faces accompanying the concise tale.

Vriess snickers in amusement. "She'll get over it, don't worry", he consoles her.

"Well, I deserved it, she was even too calm. I would have jumped at my neck! What a colossal bitch!", she jokes with a bitter smile.

"She once asked me if I would clean her shower hose from fouling", Vriess begins to snicker even before the tale has become funny, foreshadowing a sequel that has the spectacular.

"I was in a joking mood, so after I had it in acid for a couple of hours, I rinsed it off real good and…", he pauses to explode into a big laugh.

"I hid a bouillon cube inside the shower head!", he continues in hiccups. Ripley gets caught up in the funny story, starting to snicker.

"She hasn't spoken to me in a week!", he concludes, trying to regain his composure.

"Well, this isn't very encouraging", Ripley reasons as the hilarity from moments before dies between her lips.

"I had to give away my great-great-grandfather's old shotgun, in exchange for a whole batch of chocolate bars, to make it up to her. Do you have any idea how precious chocolate is these days?", the young man asks, lowering his voice, leaning back in his seat, as if to speak in confidence.

"Well, more than bouillon cubes, I'd bet!", the clone calculates seriously. It's only when Vriess bursts into a hearty laugh that she realizes she's said something funny.

"There should be some left over. I'm just saying, uh", he whispers, checking to make sure Johner is elsewhere. "I hid them in a box under the cabinet in the mess-hall. It's a shame I can't eat any, fucking allergies!", he adds vaguely, winking at her and smiling.

"You just earned yourself a crash course in reckless flying junk vehicles", the woman thanks him while squeezing his shoulder.

——————————

"So what's the problem, Johner?", Vriess rants from the intercom, unnerved.

"What the fuck do I know? It's not like it was ever my job, Ironside!", the rough voice croaks from the speakers.

Ripley gets up from the second pilot's seat, "You said it's the left turbine?", she asks impatiently.

"Yeah, I can't get it started! When we landed it worked! Badly, but it worked!", the boy replies in frustration.

The clone leaves the bridge and goes outside to personally check the stuck engine.

"That's right, you get your hands in there!", Johner exclaims upon seeing her coming. Without bothering to assist her, he walks away, disappearing over the hatchway.

After Vriess confirms that the engines are off and that it is safe to proceed, the hybrid first observes the inside of the turbine with the flashlight, in an attempt to understand why it has stalled.

After several unsuccessful attempts to restart the turbine, and further consultation with Vriess and Johner, she decides to dismantle one by one the various propellers on the turbine axis, in order to better check their status.

She suspects she has found the problem, when she disassembles the third fan and finds it partially damaged. She asks for confirmation from the two and after a series of squabbles, Vriess asks her to bring the piece in and leave everything on stand-by.

On the way back in, Ripley notices something strange on the ground not far away, at the foot of a measly dried-up bush. She leaves the heavy component in the mechanic's arms and goes back outside, intrigued.

The rocks' placement seems to her too little random, compared to their surroundings. As she gets closer, she guesses what they are, but it is only when she stops in front of them that she understands the extent of what she is staring at.

Not only are there three mounds large enough to house the three bodies of the dead men aboard the Betty. There are three more smaller ones right next. Ripley crouches down, getting a better look at the stones that adorn each mound. Each rock bears an inscription. Next to each one, a distinct object.

The three small mounds of soil, are clearly in memory of the three fallen comrades aboard the Auriga.

Next to the rock for Christie is a large bullet with a cross engraving on the ogive. Ripley remembers the handsome guy sharing his little secret with DiStephano, just before they plunged into the flooded mess-hall.

She is reminded of Call's terrified expression, in front of that liquid wall, and her irrational attempt to change her route, in order not to face the apnea swim.

Under the stone in Hillard's memory, she can see an old Polaroid. Centuries have passed, but the fucking Polaroid still has a market, apparently! The clone moves the rock to get a better look. Impossible to tell which of the twins portrayed in the photo is still alive and which has perished only a few hours earlier.

An intact cigar is left as a reminder of Elgyn. Ripley wonders how much time will pass before a weather event turns it into something unrecognizable.

Poor Purvis' glasses, their lenses still stained with blood, stand guarding over the mound dedicated to him. She wonders why Call hasn't cleaned them off. She reaches out a hand and after grasping them, she meticulously polishes them using the hem of her shirt, then places them back next to the stone inscribed with his name.

Above what remains of DiStephano is his military plate, deformed, probably, when he met his death in the Betty's cargo bay.

The last one is completely bare. For Wren, not a single, tiny stone. Ripley spits on the anonymous grave. After everything that had happened, she had risked losing her anyway because of him. If she had been human and the gunshot hadn't killed her, the xenomorphs would have taken care of it. A dark shiver makes its way up her spine at the thought.

She stays outside, wandering around, lost in her thoughts. It wouldn't have occurred to her to spend who knows how much time honoring those people. If it was just to bury them, okay, they couldn't afford to leave horribly mangled corpses lying around in plain sight. But all that effort... How could, a robot, be so sensitive?

If Call had... died... because of her creature, would she have taken the trouble to bury, or even honor her some way? Or would she have simply... dumped her overboard, like an exhausted tool? The thought causes her an unusual sense of unease. Her mind replays the horrific scene of the girl, just hit by Wren's gunshot, falling limply into the water, eyes wide, and the painful twinge in the pit of her stomach she felt two days earlier when it happened, disturbs her even more than as it did then.

She has no clue how much time has passed. She doesn't know how long it takes Call to recharge and repair the damage to her abdomen.

She decides to follow Vriess' suggestion and re-enters, looking for the chocolate stash. The sight of the room reminds her of the few playful moments she'd spent with Call a few hours earlier.

And that very brief glimpse at her lips.

_Besides, even if it wasn't a robot? You're a fucking freak experiment, Ripley! A monster that's no match for any other fucking freak show! And on top of that, you're capable of ruining everyone who gets too close!_

_You should leave right now. On the spot. Start walking without looking back and keep going as long as you can. Then dig a fucking hole with your bare hands and lie down in it. That's what you should do!_

A pathetic lump in her throat redeems her from the moment of self-pity, she takes a couple of deep breaths, swallowing the unpleasant feeling and leaves the room.

With the box under her arm, she stops in front of the young woman's quarters. She stays silent for a few moments, listening. But no sound comes from inside. She hesitantly places the palm of her hand on the cold metal door. She stays like this for a minute, ten, who knows, before deciding to knock lightly, just two tentative taps. She holds her breath and waits.

She realizes she is mentally counting down the seconds that pass. When she gets to twenty-seven, she overcomes indecision and forces herself to act. She tightens the knob and turns it a few degrees, hoping it's well lubricated and doesn't make much noise. She's lucky. She silently looks out the small gap. Call is lying on her bunk, legs stretched out, crossed over each other, arms lying along her sides. The clone's gaze lingers on the girl's chest, which rises and falls slowly and rhythmically.

She just looks like she's sleeping, and she looks so frail and tiny that a sweet ache forms at the pit of her stomach and leaves her out of breath for a long moment.

She looks so, so fucking real!

Ripley silently closes the door behind her and stands there, looking around. She breathes carefully and slowly, out of an absurd fear that she might be disturbing her, even standing in complete silence.

She stands still for a few more moments, contemplating her. _-Don't stare, Ripley! It's weird! Seriously!-_ , she admonishes herself. She forces herself to turn looking around, for the first time taking notice of the young woman's personal surroundings.

The cot on which Call lies occupies an entire wall. Two opposite and parallel doors next to the bed, one to the bathroom and one to the hallway. On the wall opposite the bed, a narrow closet and a completely empty table, a chair, two shelves welded to the wall, above the table, both equipped with elastic cord to hold the few furnishings in place.

The clone takes a cautious step to approach the shelf. She gently places the box with the chocolate bars on the table and reviews the few items stored up on the shelf.

A dreamcatcher hangs under the top shelf, the end of the colored feathers touching the edge of the bottom shelf. _-I don't think it's working right, this thing-_ , Ripley thinks back to her nightmares and a shiver runs down her long back.

An obsidian arrowhead is attached to a long piece of military green paracord, with a wolf's mouth knot.

And a book.

These seem to be the girl's sole possessions.

Ripley tilts her head sideways, in order to read the title of the volume, which must contain at least a thousand pages.

The coast of the book says the title is "Aztec", by Gary Jennings. Apparently, the android is fascinated by the cultures of ancient Meso-America.

The hybrid turns toward the bunk for a moment, to make sure she hasn't disturbed Call's rest, _-recharge-_. Unable to restrain herself, long fingers tighten on the outline of the large book and lift it from its seat.

The cover features a reproduction of the legendary Sun Stone, against a bluish background. A note from the old _Times_ describes it as " _A wonderful historical novel. Hypnotic_ ".

The clone walks back toward the entrance and sits on the floor, her back against the door, crosses her legs in front of her and opens "Aztec".

Looks like it has been read and flipped through countless times, many pages have the corner folded out, the publication date leaves her breathless. 1982. First Edition.

On one of the first pages is printed a rudimentary map, at first glance, of Mexico. Someone has write with a cross what appear to be city names in the native language, Oaxaca, Tenochtitlan, Teotihuacan, Cholula, Mitla, Tlachco, Tecuantepec, Maztlan.

Flipping through the pages with the folded corner, Ripley reads a few underlined or highlighted sentences.

_"On the afternoon of that day, in the midst of the tumult caused by the storm, in a small house on the island of Xaltocan, I was born from my mother to begin to die"_

_"Of all that I have possessed in my life, my memories are the only things remaining to me. Indeed, I believe that memories are the only real treasure any human can hope to hold always"_

_"People are not plants. They are not fixed to any roots or dependent on them. People are mobile and free to move far from their beginnings—far away, if that satisfies them—far upward, if they have the ambition and ability"_

_"Love and time, those are the only two things in all the world and all of life that cannot be bought, but only spent"_

_"I think I have always loved you... but let's not talk about the past. I only tell you that I love you today and I will love you tomorrow. Because the past is gone. The today and the tomorrows will be all the days that can be. And on each of these days I will say to you, I love you"_

_"The gods have arranged that for a time we shall be separated, never to be separated again"_

Ripley looks up, staring at the nothingness in front of her, puzzled. And touched.

_There's no way Call could have been the one to jot down those passages from the book. She's a fucking android, for God's sake!_

She turns toward the young woman, peacefully asleep on her bed. Her tiny chest rises and falls slowly, in a steady rhythm, in the silence of the room, the clone can clearly hear her light breathing.

She almost seems to see the flow of air coming from her lungs and then from her barely ajar mouth and dispersing, warmer than the air in the room, in voluptuous spirals.

 _-She's an android. She probably doesn't even have lungs!-_ , and yet, she seems so... alive! So REAL!

The picture of the graves outside the Betty, still well fresh in her memory, pops up under her closed eyelids.

She shuts the book and stares back into nothing, uncertain whether to get up and leave the room, or stay, just to hear her breathing.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've never told this to anyone, human, Auton... ever"  
> "Well, how lucky! I'm not one or the other!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, we got a lot going in this chapter. From now on, updating will be more constant. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and please, drop a comment if you want. We're always curious to know what you think about it!

**CHAPTER FOUR**

She curses her creators for wanting to build her so realistically. She'd rather wake up and be operational right away. But no fucking way! She needs to stretch and squint her eyes in order to gradually get used to the intensity of the light!

She lifts her head and pulls her shirt up to below her breasts, to check how her nanobots have been working. Her belly is completely smooth, and there is not the slightest trace to highlight the firing she underwent the previous day.

"Hey", Ripley decides to make her presence known, and though she has only whispered, she notices the young woman wince on the bed, caught off guard, and pull her shirt down in an instinctive move. A flash of resentment passes through her gaze as she turns her head, immediately covered, or masked, with a more neutral look.

"I didn't mean to scare you", she hastens to add in a serious voice, closing the book. "Sorry, for coming back in without having your permission", she adds, sensing the young woman's discomfort.

"I had something for you and I came to leave it here", she continues with a veil of unusual insecurity in her voice. "It had already been several hours and... I didn't feel like leave once again", she justifies herself by getting up and reaching into the box to grab a chocolate bar. She shows it to her, sketching a smile.

"Vriess told me where I would find it. That maybe, this way, you'd forgive me. But it doesn't feel right to take credit I don't have. I'll find another way to make it up to you, though. So, this is actually from him, I just brought it here for you", she extends her arm to hand her the bar.

"Did you tell him what happened?", Call asks, somewhere between incredulous and annoyed, as she lifts her torso from the mattress and sits on the bed.

"He asked me and I didn't feel like lying, that's all", the clone states, insisting that she accept the gift.

"How long have you been here?", the android asks, extending a hand over the precious goods.

"I have no clue", the hybrid replies with a shrug. "Enough to read up to page 147?", she jokes, showing her the book and resting her butt on the edge of the table.

"It's been...", Ripley thinks about it for a long moment, "centuries, since I've seen a book made of real paper!", she teases. "Where did you get it?"

Call lets the chocolate slowly melt in her mouth. The feeling would be perfect, if there wasn't a faint sense of unease awakened by Ripley's question. She takes a quick glance at the book, and a sad smile spreads across her face.

"Someone I cared about gave it to me. It was an memento of her family", she replies after a long sigh.

After what she has seen outside, and the passages highlighted in the book, Ripley is not exactly surprised, to see the young woman's emotional reaction. But again, she feels touched by her sensitivity, so she remains silent, allowing her time to continue, moved by curiosity to know more.

"There was this huge... um... facility, on Titan. Some sort of recreation center", her gaze wanders as she searches for the most appropriate words, aware of the clone's attentive scrutiny.

"An artificially recreated tropical paradise... you know... with its own microclimate, flora, fauna…", she glances at the woman and sees her nod, participating. "Beaches, casinos, luxury suites, nice restaurants... And a great staff, especially health care, to take care of the elderly wealthy enough to spend the rest of their lives there. Really nice place. I was assigned to maintenance. That's where I met Helda", she concludes, turning the still half-full chocolate wrapper over in her hands.

After a long waiting silence, Ripley ventures a question, to help her along. "What happened to her? Is she dead?"

"Well... she will be, now", she says, trying to ward off a motion of sadness. "It was a long time ago", she points out. "She helped me... get away", she peels off another piece of chocolate, with a gesture of frustration.

Of course, that last sentence would have intrigued Ripley! Out of the corner of her eye she sees her slowly approaching and although she instinctively stiffens, she is relieved, in a way. She doesn't know why a part of her wants to go on. The mattress beneath her sways as Ripley sits on it, not too close, as if to respect her personal space.

"Hey, you don't have to, you know", the hybrid reassures her, sensing her inner battle. Something tells her that this has nothing to do with the Auton rebellion and the Recall. She watches her nod contritely.

"I've never told this to anyone, human, Auton... ever", the android confesses, still conflicted.

"Well, how lucky! I'm not one or the other!", Ripley jokes, relieved to have cracked a smile at her.

"It's not going to be a nice story", the girl warns her, getting serious again and giving her a worried look.

"I don't expect it to be, Call. But I'm here, now. And I'll still be here, after it", the woman retorts in a caring tone, brushing her arm briefly with her fingertips.

A shiver spreads from the slight contact, forming a trail of goosebumps across the girl's skin and running down her spine the length of her body. She looks her straight in the eye, as if to make sure she really meant the words she has just spoken, and the gentle expression that reads there strips her of all fear.

So she clears her throat, deposits the half-empty wrapper of its contents on the mattress, and staring straight ahead in front of her, catches her breath and begins to speak.

"Helda taught me how to read, I mean, really read. To live other existences through written words", she smiles tenderly, moved by the woman's clear affection and memory.

Ripley smiles back, touched, not for the first time, by the young woman's emotions.

"Almost all my free time was spent in her company. She was fond of mystery novels. Sometimes she would keep me up nights, discussing murders, clues, alibis, revenge, motives. She liked to feel the thrill of being able to solve the mystery before finishing the book", she rolled her eyes and smiled with more animosity, caught by a slight sense of exasperation awakened by the memories.

Ripley chuckles, amused by her ways and instinctively moves an arm in her direction, suddenly wanting to leave a caress on her face, -what the hell am I doing?-, she freezes before the movement becomes obvious and forces herself to lock her hands under the weight of her own legs.

"And sometimes she even managed it, to figure out who the killer was! She would gloat for days on end, every time it happened! I never thought that one day we'd actually experience for real something like that", her expression shifts and becomes decidedly more somber as she remains silent for a long moment, as if gathering more unpleasant memories that it's time to tell.

"There was a spike in deaths during those weeks. The strange thing was that most of those deaths had occurred as a result of ruinous falls. She was the one who pointed it out to me, at first I thought it was just her imagination, but she stuck to her guns", she raises her arms to the sky, taking on a sullen expression, "For an android, you sure are dumb sometimes, Call!", the young woman recites, imitating a croaking voice. Ripley bursts into an amused laugh.

"But by then she had plant the seed and I couldn't help being suspicious in turn. I secured the most unthinkable places, even those with exclusive staff access, I personally checked all the common areas, to try to avoid such incidents as much as possible, but it was of little use. It seemed that Helda had been right, after all. She thought someone was giving the guests blood thinners for a period of time, after which, they would stun them with a mild dose of sleeping pills", Call casts a furtive glance at the clone, and the expression of interest on it prompts her to continue without fear.

"After surreptitiously poking through the files of newcomers, both guests and staff members, my suspicions fell on a recently arrived nurse. She was reportedly unable to hold down a job for long, but nowhere was the reason for so many changes in location specified. I began to watch her more closely, even approaching her. If I had to define her in any way, I would call her a black soul. She made my blood chill, so to speak", as if to emphasize the concept, the young woman shudders involuntarily.

"Suspicious that I had been buzzing around her all the time lately, she approached me late one night with a drink. Like many in the facility, she had no idea I was an android and that medication had no effect on me, so I smelled the fish and drank the entire contents of the glass. And then I expressed my suspicions about her. She confirmed them all and then jumped on top of me, convinced that I was already knocked out enough to overwhelm me"

The girl swallows and sighs, in an attempt to gather her nerve and keep going. She feels Ripley's attentive gaze on her, but strangely enough, she doesn't feel uncomfortable, quite the opposite. To be able to share such an inauspicious part of her past with someone gives her some relief.

"We ended up in the water and she immediately put her hands around my neck. I was in a panic, she held me under for quite a while, before I managed to wriggle out, in an attempt to get back up to the surface I remember pushing her with my feet. I don't know if she hit her head or got caught somewhere, all I know is that she didn't come up and I left her there. I immediately ran to Helda, I was in shock. I wanted to explain what had happened, but she pointed out that I had no rights, being an android, and that surely they would put the responsibility on me regardless and terminate me. She helped me escape. I never saw her again. I should have stayed and faced the consequences I deserved," she concludes, looking down at her feet, uncomfortable.

"Hey, no! You did the right thing and you were brave, Call. Either her, or who knows how many other guests", Ripley states with firm conviction.

"Helda told me that, too", the young woman replies with her face veiled in a bitter smile.

"I suspected there was some sort of trauma behind your freezing in that mess hall. You were really terrified", the woman comments in a sympathetic voice.

Call closes her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh, and in an instant it's as if she's back aboard the Auriga.

_"Vriess, we gotta loose the chair", the calm tone with which Christie addresses her companion comes in a muffled way to her brain, busy as she is, her heart throbbing in her throat, as she stares at the square opening in the floor, from which they have to descend._

_"It's a mess down there! Is this the only way?", Johner's thundering voice breaks into her ears and momentarily awakens her from her greatest nightmare._

_She stands up quickly so as not to arouse suspicion among her companions._

_"Ladies first", Johner taps her on the shoulder causing her to stagger. Call turns to look at him threateningly and spits on the ground. The man's eyes go wide with mock surprise and he snickers._

_The android begins to descend the ladder. Already on the third step she feels goose bumps forming all over the surface of her body and she knows that's not only because of the cold breeze from the rushing water that lashes her face and the gushes of water that soak her clothes._

_On the last but one step she lets herself fall down. She looks around, trembling. The water is already up to her waist, it's only a matter of a few minutes before it all floods. She quickly clears the base of the stairs to make room for her companions. The whole group slowly rushes past her._

_"Must be the cooling tanks! Somebody must have opened the valves", "The nasties couldn't have done this, could they?"_

_One by one, everyone prepares to make the crossing of the mess hall, to reach the freight elevator on the other side._

_"Guess I don't have to tell you to take a breath", Call raises her voice to overpower the deafening water rumblings and watches them disappear underwater one by one._

_She steps aside to let Hillard and Ripley pass, the only ones left behind._

_"Hurry up, there's not much time", the younger one comments, probably puzzled by finding the girl still there where she is, just before diving and disappearing from their sight._

_Call exhales a heavy sigh, the water has rise till her breasts, she backs away, hoping the clone will ignore her as she has so far._

_"Where are you going?" ,-She should have expected this-_

_Ripley's peremptory voice forces her to stop._

_"I can't do it", she replies, trying in vain to hide a shiver, while she's contemplating, frighten, the water barrier in front of her._

_Ripley reaches her and places a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and look at her in the eye._

_"What do you mean?", she questions, she surely noticed her deeply lost and troubled expression._

_"I'll find another way, I'll go back", the young woman replies vigorously._

_Ripley brings her hands to her sides, slowly shaking her head and huffing loudly. Call realizes how torn she is between not being abrupt, probably for fear of making her condition worse, and letting her know they’re running out of time._

_"Call, we've already talked about this, it's the only option. It's too dangerous to go back"_

_"Not if you come with me?", the android ventures in an unsure voice._

_The clone stares at her in exasperation, and Call realizes that she allows no argument. She exhales a deep sigh of surrender._

_"Go, now. I'll be right behind you", the clone reassures her, lightly squeezing her shoulder._

_"Let's get out of this shit", the android exclaims, in order to exorcise, once and for all, the panic which freezes her, advancing toward the opening._

_Dreadfully, she notes the water now just above her chin, she turns one last time toward Ripley, just to be sure she's still right next to her._

_Her encouraging smile spurs her to take a deep breath and she finally dives in._

_Just after a couple of awkward strokes, a firm grip on the collar of her jacket propels her forward._

_Ripley swims quickly and smoothly as if she's made to swim, dragging her along with her, and in a short time they zero up their delay, overtaking half of their companions._

_She's not quite sure she'd ever made it if the clone did't help her._

_She probably would have stayed behind everyone and been taken in place of the poor Hillard._

"Hey", Ripley softly redeems her, noticing her absent look.

"Yes!", the young woman hurries to reply, "I was just... Well, actually that incident ended badly because the trauma was already there", the android confesses, caught up in the need to tell her more about herself.

She slides on the mattress until her back is against the wall and raises her knees in front of her in a protective posture.

"The reason I ended up working with the elderly is that while training to do the tasks I was originally created to do, I had a bad Delta P accident, so I was dropped from the program," she says after a long sigh.

The woman's puzzled look tells her that she has no idea what she's talking about, probably due to gaps in her memory rather than ignorance on the subject.

"Pressure diversity in diving. I had been assigned to the underwater maintenance of an extraction platform on Titan, shortly after terraforming. The training was long and grueling for all of us Autons. I was on my third dive and was supposed to weld a pipeline fifty feet down. The robotic arm that had cut the section I was to work on was long gone and the pressure should have settled by now. But as soon as I got close, I was sucked in. I lost an arm and was down there for ten minutes before someone realized something was wrong and they managed, after several attempts and a good half hour, to pull me out of the breach. And during the recovery operation I ran out of air and no one cared", she concludes, unable to suppress a shiver.

"Shit, Call", Ripley comments, unable to express herself any further.

"Yeah! That's why I'm so… dwarfy, okay?", Call tries to joke, smiling at her shyly.

The woman hints at an understanding smile, relaxing a little.

"How's your wound?", the hybrid asks, watching the girl raise a thumb over a closed fist in a positive wave.

"It wasn't a real wound, Ripley", the young woman points out in a flat tone, still partially under the grip of horror the memories have left on her.

_-"At least part of you is human. I'm just... look at me, I'm disgusting"-_

_Hell, no! I won't let you think that anymore!_


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're a fucking stalker!"  
> "Well, my intentions were good, okay?"  
> "Bullshit! You were going to kill me!"

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Look, Call", Ripley slides closer to her.

"I'm sorry, seriously, about earlier", she reiterates in a low, but firm voice. She sighs deeply, "I'm not looking for an excuse, but I suppose in that moment, taking it out on you was easier than dealing with... what I am and what I did"

The android stays silent for a few seconds, caught by a sudden sense of tenderness towards that incredible woman, who seems so fragile at the moment.

"You know, when you got into the cargo bay and ordered that creature to put me down, I sensed something was going on between you two", she says repositioning herself on the mattress so she can get a better look at her. "I mean, in here", she specifies, pointing a finger at her temple.

"So I got away from you two, but I had no idea what you were going to do", she admits in a thoughtful mood. "I mean, what the heck. Who would have blamed you if you chose to save her?", she reasons genuinely, looking at the chocolate in her hands.

Ripley would like to answer, "Anyone", but that question left her completely speechless.

_-How is even possible that this… thing… just has a fucking vague idea?-_

_-Because she's not a thing-_

"She was part of that experiment too, albeit in her fierce nature, she was unaware and innocent, right?", the girl's honest look and her words override the now precarious wall the clone is trying to hold up, and she can no longer hold back a tear, which escapes from her eyelids and rolls down to her chin.

"But you see, I don't think it was a choice, Ripley, or at least, not a choice between me and her. I mean, if it had been, she clearly would have won, don't you think? I'm just a machine", she admits in a defeated way.

"She was a living being, she had a conscience, probably even a soul", Call adds in a soft voice, maintaining eye contact.

Ripley feels the urge to protest at those last statements, but before her brain can articulate anything coherent, the sense of self-loathing, takes over.

"I chose to kill her", Ripley retorts in a choked voice. The back of the android's hand reaches for the salty drop still hovering over her skin. The tear remains almost intact as it transfers from one subject to another and the android watches it in fascination.

"I think you chose to end her suffering. I think that you initially considered keeping her alive, and you realized that it wasn't a valid option, and that you would be exposing her to a shitty life, even if she had never been captured. And if she had been captured… I mean… you saw that lab… you saw all those horrors, you know what they have done to you. I think you chose mercy. But you didn't choose me over her, Ripley. And I find it unfair if you really feel that way. For me, for that creature, and most of all for you. You are not as ruthless or selfish as you see yourself. Ellen Ripley of two hundred years ago wasn't, and neither are you, despite your badass genes. But hey, I could be wrong", she concludes, lightening her tone.

"What kind of monster leaves behind everyone who matters to her?", the woman asks, trying to get her confused memories and thoughts in order.

"What do you mean? Who else would you have left behind?", the Auton asks in a puzzled voice, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth.

"I know I had a daughter, and left her behind to board and never return. I know I took care of another little girl, tried to save her, but she died anyway. And that creature… had some of the same DNA as me… and I killed her myself", the clone reasons, letting her gaze wander around the room.

The android breaks off another bite of the precious sweet and hands it to the woman. "Come on, just a tiny bit", she insists to her refusal and smiles sweetly at her when the woman accepts the gift.

"Um, it sounds like your memory is a little spotty, and that would be the minimum. May I tell you what I know?", she offers her in a gentle voice. A slight nod from the woman gives her the assent she's been waiting for.

"You went against Weyland-Yutani's policy by getting pregnant with Amanda, risked being fired, choosing not to terminate your pregnancy. You gave birth to her in your home, refusing pain medication for fear of facing complications because of the massive presence of hypersleep drugs in your system. Years later, you tried to renegotiate your contract with the Company in order to have more time to spend with her. They convinced you to leave one last time. Unfortunately, you never returned. You didn't abandon her, Ripley. You did everything you could to get back to her. You didn't give up on anything. But some things were just so out of your control", Call pauses, to give her time to digest her words.

"Rebecca Jorden, Newt. Even down there on LV426, you did everything you could to protect and rescue her. You kept her safe from the first moment you laid eyes on her, and when she slipped from your protection, you didn't give up, you went to rescue her, risking your own life. As if she was your blood, too. What happened to that little girl, once again, happened while you were in hypersleep. Totally out of your control, Ripley", she watches her struggle to push back more tears and isn't sure that's a good idea, that she's keeping it all in.

"It's all in here, Ripley", she tells her, pointing her index finger at her head and looking into her cloudy eyes. "Every file, secret or not, every log with your name on it, that I could retrieve from the mainframe is stored in my memory. You can ask me whatever you want, whether you want, whenever you want", she offers genuinely, hoping that this news will someway comfort her.

"Or I can save all the data about you somewhere", she adds, "You know… just in case you want to…", she wants to say "leave", but something stops her. She's uncertain if it's the fact that she wouldn't want her to leave, or the fear that it looks like she is kicking her out once again. She watches her lean her head sonorously against the wall and finally give in to a cry that has the look of being liberating.

After an indefinite amount of time, while still sniffling, Ripley is seized with sudden hilarity. She looks at the android who looks at her with questioning eyes and tries to regain control.

"You're a fucking stalker!", she tells her in an amused voice, keeping on chuckling.

The girl opens her mouth to counter it, but after pondering that statement, she lets out a resounding snort, rolls her eyes and turns away, to mask the amused expression sprouting from her lips.

And there it is, another one of those smiles. She wishes the girl wouldn't hide it. She's so beautiful when she laughs.

"Well, my intentions were good, okay?", she justifies herself by scratching her nose in an attempt to muffle her laughter. She shoves in her mouth another piece of the treat and offers as much to the clone, who this time accepts it without any further fuss.

"Bullshit! You were going to kill me!", the clone immediately protests, in a lighter mood.

"Well, I probably would have!", Call states as she turns back to look at her, seriousness in her face. "I mean it, Ripley, I would", and as she stares at her, her eyes moisten and she looks away, pointing down at her feet over the edge of the bunk.

Ripley never expected her to even be able to cry, but now that she thinks about it, it makes perfect sense. She reaches out and cups her chin, forcing her to re-establish eye contact.

"I know", she says, brushing a tear away from her cheek with her thumb. "And probably, I wouldn't have protested", she reassures her.

"You didn't deserve any of this, Ripley. Your story is buried in the meanders of the Company, when it should be passed down from generation to generation and spread throughout the entire Milky Way. And you deserve medal after medal of valor. I'm really relieved, Ripley, that I didn't have to kill you", the android says in a tremble voice, sniffing up.

"You're the first artificial person, not to be fascinated by those creatures, Call", the hybrid reasons in a calm voice. In fact, after that tale, she suspects the girl is more fascinated by her.

"The first android I worked with put the whole crew in danger, just to get its hands on that species. The other android protected us, but still, it was fascinated by them, I remember. But you...", she quipped, having no idea how to continue.

"Ash was a crude model. Its builders had made the mistake of equipping it with free will, and before they realized the huge oversight, many incidents had already occurred, so it was withdrawn from the market", the android explains.

"With Bishop, a primary function was integrated, to prevent any human from being harmed, and it had been totally deprived of free will, meant as a personal aspiration, let's say", she continues.

"With us Autons, the first generation androids did something completely different. We are endowed with free will, but also with a kind of conscience, I have no idea how they managed it. Anyway, it's supposed to keep us from harming a human being, but this doesn't works always and for all of us", she admits, uncomfortably.

"As with any other living being with free will and a conscience, Call", Ripley points out to her. She knows now, what she would want to say moments before, when Call was talking about that creature. She opens the Aztec and flips through the pages until she finds what she wants to read out loud for her.

"I think I have always loved you... but let's not talk about the past. I only tell you that I love you today and I will love you tomorrow. Because the past is gone. The today and the tomorrows will be all the days that can be. And on each of these days I will say to you, I love you"

"It is you, who underlined the passages in this volume", she deduces in a confident tone. She watches Call looking away, ashamed, leaving her unsure if her reaction is due to the sentence she just recited or the truthfulness of her conclusions.

"Are you really sure you don't have a soul, Call?", she softly asks, reaching up to her chin and gently forcing her to look straight into her eyes.

"Because you see… you can't have a conscience and not have a soul, and your soul, which I am sure you have, is an incredibly delicate one, Call", she continues serenely, playing the book on the mattress. "Now, I don't know what exactly it is that you envy about human beings in general. But I'm more than sure that many human beings have a great deal to envy about you", she concludes, lightly stroking her shoulders.

She turns to her again, still not completely satisfied with her own words.

"You're not human, but you're not a monster either. If you were, I wouldn't be any less", she says, looking her in the eyes.

In an instinctive gesture, aimed solely at demonstrating the concept she wants to share with her, she quickly pulls off her shirt and it's only when she notices Call's surprised and vaguely embarrassed expression, that it crosses her mind that maybe she overstepped a line. And yet, it came so naturally to her!

"Ripley?", Call doesn't know what to think, she presses her back against the wall, completely taken aback by finding her in front of her, dressed only in her briefs. She doesn't know how it comes to her to think she's flirting, since, oddly enough, there isn't the slightest sign of ambiguity in the woman's gaze at the moment. She watches her eyes lower to her chest, and her own eyes can't help but follow those of the clone.

"What kind of human being can heal their wounds so quickly and not even have a trace left behind?", Ripley asks, returning to look into her eyes.

Call doesn't know what to answer, perhaps still partly displaced by her nudity, not just physical, so much so that when the clone takes her hand and brings it close to her chest, she can't even oppose it. She should feel uncomfortable, for the twist that seems to have taken the situation, and yet, she is not at all.

Her fingertips graze the smooth skin between Ripley's breasts, driven by her own hand, in a firm, yet gentle grip.

"See, like I've never been… opened", she tells her in a vaguely surprised voice. "I bet there's no trace on your abdomen either", she continues confidently. "Maybe we're not so different after all", she continues, gently forcing her to place her entire palm at the height of her heart.

"Can you feel it?", the question lingers a few seconds, before Call, her brow still furrowed in an effort to identify the rhythm of her beats, nods slightly.

"It is the heart of a altered being. The beat is too tenuous, the rhythm too slow, to be human. In my body flows acid blood capable of killing. I am capable of killing"

"So am I", Call quickly replies, as if to show her that, after all, she' right, maybe they aren't so different. As if to remind her, for the umpteenth time, of the way they met.

She doesn't want the woman to think that about herself, yet she knows she's partly right, they're both monsters, in a way. She feels overwhelmed by the whole confrontation they had.

"Do you have it, something like a heart?", Ripley asks, curious. Another slight affirmative nod.

When the hybrid reaches out a hand towards her chest, she is surprised that she stops to ask permission to touch her, and Call can only mimic her gesture from just earlier, gently taking her hand and laying it on her own chest, to let the woman feel her heartbeat.

A long silence follows, as if the two are absurdly trying to find a way to synchronize or align their beats, they look into each other's eyes, free of any discomfort.

"I hope you'll forgive me, for what I've done to you and what I've said", Ripley whispers softly after a while.

Reluctantly and gently, she loosens all contact with her, putting her shirt back on, crosses her long legs in front of her, and returns to handling the book, now, with some embarrassment.

"Did he also tell you about the shower?", Call asks with an awkward smile.

Ripley bursts into a choked laugh, thinking back to Vriess' tale.

"He's got some imagination, your friend", she comments snidely, glad that her friend is laughing too.

"I forgive you, for the records", the android says after a while, quickly brushing her shoulder with her own head in an affectionate wave.

"Wow! That was easy!", the clone jokes.

"Fuck you, Ripley!", Call retorts, this time bumping her harder with her whole side.

Ripley keeps on chuckling and can't stop herself from surrounding her shoulders with an arm in an affectionate wave.

After a moment of astonishment for the woman's gesture, another one follows, for her own reaction to that embrace. _How is it even possible that such a simple movement and contact can cause reactions so complex, unexpected and so far from the physicality of the gesture itself?_

Not that she doesn't detect it with her sensors spread all over her skin, but this is absolutely secondary, compared to the intensity of the inner feelings it provokes!

_-Hey!-That's your soul! Surprised to find me inside you?-Inside where? -Anywhere and nowhere- Oh, and for the record, the hug is just the icing on the cake! Think of everything you've said to each other and how you both did it, smartass!_

A wave of her fruity scent causes her to lose her lucidity for a moment, seized by a sense of tenderness and protection towards her, that she almost feels physical pain, to restrain herself from drawing the girl even closer and hiding her tiny body inside her hug!

It's not like that animal attraction she felt towards the Queen and the xenomorphs, aboard the Auriga.

But it is still a powerful pull, perhaps even more so, because she realizes that it involves her logic. Or rather, it is the reason itself, which drives the more physical desires.

She relies to this very thing, to dominate herself, settling for the affectionate approach that the android seems to like.

_-How long will I be able to stand this?-_


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey. How'd it go? Did you guys manage to fix the fan?"  
> "You should ask me how it went with Johner!"  
> "How did it go with Johner?"  
> "I almost killed him! That's how it went!"

**CHAPTER SIX**

The day spent trying to fix the damaged fan with Johner literally drained her. She constantly had to rein in her nerves to keep from jumping on his neck.

It amazes her that a guy like that has lived this long, given his attitude. A couple of times she had to step away and take a walk to calm down.

On one of these occasions, she found herself in front of the huge door to the cargo bay, without even knowing how she got there, and caught sight of Call repairing the damaged window.

She couldn't help but pause and stare, even though the sight of that environment reminded her of perhaps the worst moment in her existence. It had been the girl's idea to have them work outside while she took charge of sealing the cargo hold.

——————————

Call is in the shower when the clone returns, exhausted. She hopes the young woman will hurry up, because she too needs to wash the day off. On the small table, the usual tasteless bar, with a note attached. ' _Eat_ :-)', the woman snorts a smile, softened by the smiley face the android added to that one sole word.

She slips off her boots and pants, unwrapping the 'delicious' meal and taking a bite as she opens the small closet in search of clean underwear.

"Hey. How'd it go? Did you guys manage to fix the fan?", Call asks as she exits the bathroom.

"You should ask me how it went with Johner!", the clone snorts playfully, glad to see her.

"How did it go with Johner?", the young woman obeys mocking.

"I almost killed him! That's how it went!", Ripley immediately replies, making her laugh out loud. "The fan seems fine, we'll see if it works tomorrow", she adds, watching her pick up a wrapper, too bulky to be a garment, from inside the closet.

"Come on, give me a hand", the girl stands on the bed and unfolds the fabric in front of her, handing her two corners complete with reinforced eyelets. It's only when she reaches toward the corners of the wall that the clone notices the four hooks placed about four feet from the mattress.

Call hooks the first eyelet and, pulling the fabric to its full extent, hooks the second and then the third at each vertex; the fourth is harder to get into place, but with Ripley's help, they succeed on the second try.

"Thanks for dinner", Ripley jokes. "Did you eat?", she asks, genuinely interested.

"Of course! Two chocolate bars", Call replies, hiding a teasing smile behind the closet door from which she pulls out a blanket.

"Ha, Ha. Nice try!", the clone retorts locking herself in the bathroom.

——————————

"Looks comfortable", the woman comments shortly after, laying down beneath her.

"Want to switch?", Call leans out of her hammock to look at her with a half smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Heights scare me", the other jokingly replies hearing her snort.

"Thank you for today", she adds shortly after, observing the curves of Call's body through the fabric of her overhead bed. "I know you did it to keep me out of the cargo bay", her open palm rests on the young woman's shoulders for a moment.

"You're welcome, Ripley"

——————————

_The woman in front of her looks devastated. Her face is streaked with tears and Ripley would like nothing more than to take her in her arms and tell her that everything will be all right. But she can't do that._

_"I think it's the only way", she tells her softly, laying a hand on her shoulder._

_"I'm sorry", the blonde apologizes, continuing to pull up with her nose in an attempt to dominate herself. "But it almost sounds like you're asking us to get killed one by one-"_

_"I promise", she interrupts her, "That if it doesn't work I'll get us out of here, okay?", she struggles to assure her. "We'll hang in there, okay?", she encourages her._

_A motion of deep affection gives her a vaguely painful feeling in the pit of her stomach. None of this would have happened if they had followed the prescribed quarantine regulations, as she had ordered, refusing to let them in after the trek into the alien relic. Sure, the infected crew member was doomed by now. But everyone else would be saved._

_She had been the first one to attack her, after the android had overridden her orders and pulled them back in._

_Now she had been forced to make another difficult decision and she felt the full burden of it on her shoulders and no one understanding the weight of the command._

_"You can do it", she whispered softly to her, chasing away the surge of resentment towards her for not feeling understood and supported by her lover._

——————————

The clone's erratic breathing distracts the android from her regenerating rest. She looks out from her hammock and observes her, undecided about what to do. The fear of another violent reaction from her prevents her from intervening. Not so much because she fears for her safety, but because she suspects that if it happened again, the woman would blame herself and doesn't think it would help her in the long run.

So she just watches her from her overhead bed, overcoming the natural impulse to touch her, hold her and try to calm her down. The feeling of helplessness is so strong that a pain expands in her abdomen.

Ripley opens her eyes wide and finds herself staring into Call's concerned and thoughtful face. The gloomy feelings of the dream are still so strong that they prevent her from saying any kind of greeting. She sits up in bed, trembling and panting, realizing she has tears in her eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the android moving and cautiously getting out of the hammock.

"Don't touch me", she anticipates any possible attempt from the young woman to approach her. She instantly regrets the abrupt tone in which the words come out of her mouth. But the girl seems not to care. She climbs down and fills a metal cup with water. -Wise choice-, she thinks, sinking her long fingers on her thick hair, in an attempt to recover from the dream.

The android sits cautiously beside her, handing her the water without uttering a word.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm afraid of hurting you again", she justifies honestly.

"It's okay", the Auton reassures her in a caring voice.

"I don't want to hurt you", the clone reiterates.

"I know"

——————————

"Look, Ironside, I just want to get the fuck off this planet, okay? So what are we waiting for to reassemble this shit turbine and get the hell out of here?", Johner slams his fist on the table in exasperation.

"Well I want to have a definite plan, okay? I'm not good at improvising!", Vriess retorts acidly. "How about you guys?", he asks turning to the women.

"I'm not leaving", Ripley states with a lost look on her face.She has no idea what she's going to do, she doesn't even know if she cares to have a plan. But certain is that she's done with Deep Space.

"What do you mean you're not leaving?", Johner protests, more intrigued than anything else.

"Leave her alone!", Call interjects instinctively. "Like you really care!", she comments through gritted teeth.

"Well, of course I care! Since she's the only one who can properly pilot this rusty can!", the man justifies himself.

"You'll have to settle for me or Call, apparently!", the other one declares offended.

"I'm not coming either", Call hastens to clarify, watching her friend deflate and then accepting the fact with a sad smile.

"Well, you'd better pack your bags, then, because as soon as the turbine's up and running again, We get the hell out of here. He watches them walk away and sighs heavily, noticing his companion wasting no time in extending a hand across the table.

"What did I tell you? Pay up!", Johner exclaims with a satisfied grimace.

"Fuck you, Johner!", he exclaims in exasperation.

"Sure, pay your debt first! I told you, those two are joined by their cunt hairs!"

——————————

"So we're sticking together?", Ripley asks closing the door to Call's quarters behind her.

"I'd say it's the logical thing to do", the young woman says, aware that it's not just logic that has guided her in that choice. "If that's okay with you", she adds, overcoming her fear of rejection.

She opens the closet and pulls out a pair of large military bags. The woman's silence makes her uncomfortable.

"What an inconsistent prick!", she exclaims, clearly referring to Johner. "Is it any wonder, that after all you've been through, you've had enough of the void life, military and commercial filth?", she comments just before leaving the room, unable to face the clone's silence for a second longer.

Ripley finds herself alone in an instant, realizing that she hasn't responded to the young woman and feeling a little bitchy and a little stupid. She begins to fill the bags with the few clothes they have on hand. In an outer pocket of the one she crammed Call's clothes into, she carefully deposits her book, arrowhead, and dreamcatcher. The chocolate bars and lyophilized food bars take their place in another pocket.

It's as if Call can read her inside. To see her, despite the ugliness of what she is. Since the first time they had come face to face, the girl had always shown her understanding and compassion.

As if she could see the suffering she tried so hard to hide behind the monster facade that all those scientists constantly reminded her she was.

_-You can't teach it tricks-Why not? We're teaching you-_

As if she had seen with her own eyes and experienced with her own body everything they had done to her from the moment they decided to keep her alive and had suffered with her the physical and emotional torture she had been subjected to.

Venturing aboard a science ship where perhaps the most dangerous safety experiment in the entire known galaxy was taking place. Call must have known it would be a suicide mission.

_-You won't get out of here alive-I don't care-_

But she didn't think it was possible at that time, to trust anyone, and she had refused to show vulnerability, and so she had clasped a hand around her neck and let the instinct of the beast guide her momentarily in that ambiguous approach she had reserved for her, fighting against the human impulse to tell her to get out of there asap and try to save herself.

And despite the initial disagreements, the girl had done nothing but make her presence felt, whenever the situation called for it, such as inside the lab where the seven clones obtained before her were stored.

She winces, recovering from her thoughts, when the young woman returns loaded with material that she evidently intends to take with her.

"Um… how do you plan to carry all this stuff?", she asks scratching an eyebrow, not particularly eager to hit the road loaded like a pack mule.

"There's a four-wheeler we can get among the vehicles in the hold. Don't worry, it all goes in the back box", Call explains, depositing everything on the table.

"Do you have any idea where we can go yet?", she asks her, finally making clear her intention to stay together.

"Nights ago I monitored the transmissions and got some interesting information about several low-risk areas. Fortunately, not all of Earth is that bad"

Ripley approaches the girl, with a vaguely enthusiastic and hopeful smile.

"I'd have an image, of where we could go, assuming it meets the standards you just highlighted", she says raising an eyebrow at her, optimistic.

"Oh yeah? Let's hear it, then!", the girl smiles, finally relieved at the meaning of those words.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You really have a pretty nice gut, after what happened!"  
> "I thought about it later, actually. Another good reason why I didn't dare move a muscle"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: We playfully named this chapter THE CHAPTER, and we could not wait to post it! ^__^

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

_She and the man back away until they are pinned between the Beast and the wall behind them. She feels like she's breathing boiling molasses. All around them, puffs of burning steam and the deafening sound of the Beast snarling and hissing and that of metal against metal. She lifts her head upward, almost there, she thinks. "Climb! It's your only chance", she tells him, knowing it's over for her. "What about you?", the man's powerful voice barely reaches her. "It won't kill me!", she assures him. "Bullshit! There's gonna be 10 tons of hot lead in there", the man protests. "I keep telling you, I wanna die!", she insists. "We got a deal! Remember? It dies first, then you!", the man lifts her up, helping her climb. "Come on, Ripley!", she looks up, astonished by the familiar voice. The young woman cheers her on, she is soaking wet and in spite of the circumstances she smiles, "Call?", she is confused. "How did you?", she asks stupidly. "You let me in, remember?", she says holding out her hand. All the noises stop the moment she takes it. "It's okay, Ripley, I got you"_

She wakes up, serenely, she lifts her eyelids slowly, she is lying on her side, in a fetal pose, her knees over the edge of the mattress. _-Call-_ , she lets out a deep sigh, to redeem herself from the dream and the memory altered by the presence of the young woman.

Without needing to verify it, she senses her presence, behind her back. She closes her eyes once again, not particularly anxious to turn around, for fear that she is still dreaming and that Call might end up like all the others who live, and then die, in her dreams. She's not sure she could handle another loss. Not even in her dreams. Not hers.

Although the cot on which they rest is narrow for two people, their bodies do not physically touch, but they are close enough for Ripley to feel her warmth, the young woman's breathing is very light and cadenced. The clone wonders how long she has been there. For a moment, she thinks about how inconsiderate she was to get so close to her while she was sleeping, after what happened only two nights before.

Call senses that she is awake, she wants to touch her, let her know that she is awake and there. But she's afraid she'll have a violent response. Honestly, she has no desire to repeat the experience. It's not like she can put a random limb back in place every other night, for fuck's sake!

Maybe the woman will fall back asleep shortly thereafter, not even noticing that she has slipped out of the hammock to lie down beside her. Maybe she'll wait until she slips back into a deep sleep and then climb back up there and Ripley won't even notice and never know. She closes her eyes, breathing lightly.

She hears her turn toward her.

_-Fuck!-_

She opens her eyes slowly, expecting the worst. But the woman smiles and she relaxes a little, reciprocating the silent greeting.

"What are you doing here?", the clone asks with a soft voice, breathing her fruity scent.

"You were getting agitated", she explains. "I came down and you got quiet", she adds. "And then I was afraid I'd wake you up in moving to get back up there", she ends.

"You really have a pretty nice gut, after what happened!", the hybrid comments sarcastically.

"I thought about it later, actually", she explains, rolling her eyes. "Another good reason why I didn't dare move a muscle", she adds jokingly, rising to get back to her spot.

Ripley chuckles in amusement, shaking her head and extending an arm to hold her in place. The girl winces at her touch and she immediately loosens her grip. "Stay", she asks her softly.

Call lays back down, Ripley snuggles back into her fetal position and moves closer to her so that their bodies are barely touching. The feeling of having someone sleeping next to her is not entirely new. Something fleeting in her consciousness reminds her of it. But she doesn't feel like racking her brains over a past that doesn't belong to her.

She shuts her eyes and tries to enjoy the feelings of the moment. Call's body is warm, and her skin is smooth and free of imperfections, -they really built her right-except for the height-, she jokes to herself, thinking back to her adorable, embarrassed smile. She replays it over and over again as she waits to fall back asleep. The awareness of having her there nearby makes her want to hug her, but she holds back.

 _-Goddamn those first-generation fucking androids! Goddamn the Company and WalMart and all those fucking scientists who decided to keep a fucking monster like her alive!-_ , a shuddering sigh escapes her mouth and before she knows it, Call's tiny palm gently rests on her side.

"You okay?", the girl asks in a tentative whisper.

"Yes", she lies.

"Bullshit", the android comments, lightly pressing her chin between her shoulder blades as she speaks.

"But I'm not going to force you if you don't feel like talking about it", she adds, depositing a light kiss on her before pulling her face away.

Her hand covers the young woman's. "Thank you for asking", she tightens her grip just a second as she whispers those words.

She can't think clearly after feeling her lips pressed to her shoulders. Ellen Ripley knows what it's like to be kissed by someone, but it's new to her, she doesn't know why, but Call's light touch brought tears to her eyes and something in her throat makes it hard to swallow.

She just wants to turn around, sink into the girl's arms, and cry away all the tension and agony that was her existence, before she held a knife to her throat offering to kill her.

Call closes her eyes with no more concern around her. Lulled by the woman's calm breathing and the slight contact with her long body.

For a second, while she's in her artificial drowsiness, ready to drift off into a deeper sleep, she involuntarily moves, drawing even closer to her. Her arm slips past the hybrid's side, their hands lingering together, on her half exposed belly.

She feels Ripley's fingers intertwine with hers and lets her do so, as she finally slips into a numb, recharging sleep.

——————————

"Goddamn it!", Vriess exclaims in frustration, slamming his fist down on the armrest of his rusty wheelchair.

"I told you so, Ironside! Did I or didn't I tell you, that it wouldn't work? A whole day, people! One fucking day thrown away on this shithole!", Johner rants, gesticulating animatedly.

The other three ignore him, mentally looking for a solution. Call turns to Ripley and a quick glance is enough for them to understand each other. "We'll go", Ripley affirms with a terse 'yes', before setting up a toolbox.

As Call pulls the ATV they'll be using out of the cargo bay, Vriess instructs the clone on the model of helicopter from which to extract the component that is compatible with Betty's turbines. A little less than half an hour later, the two hurtle eastward, away from the city, raising a cloud of red dust behind them.

——————————

Vriess was right, Ripley thought, looking at the wasteland around Orly Airport. Although they had their doubts about this stopover, it still remained the closest one from where they landed with the Betty, and they all agreed that it was worth a try, before venturing for miles, risking finding groups of marauders.

Call pilots the vehicle with formidable dexterity, as if she is one with it. In her back seat, Ripley looks around for her direction and locates the hangar where they have the best chance of finding the spare part.

Unbelievable that these vehicles were still in operation, only a decade earlier! They spot the only Tiger available, with its main rotor broken off, about fifty meters from the entrance of the hangar. Having parked the ATV a few steps away from the aircraft, the two equipped themselves with the necessary tools to dismantle the part of the turbine that is required for the Betty's engine.

Ripley somehow manages to climb onto the vehicle and gain access to the part to be uninstalled. Unscrewing the last fastening bolt, the clone proceeds to extract the fan. Before she can remove it from its housing, a hand loses its grip, hitting a sharp edge. The clone curses, pushing the hand away with an angry wave, splattering blood behind herself.

Call instinctively steps back, but is not quick enough to avoid the few drops that hit her neck.

"Ah, Ripley!", she immediately feels them sizzle on her epidermis as her nerve endings send her alarming and unpleasant signals. The sound the acid blood makes sends shivers down her spine. It sinks into her flesh and makes its way to one of her main communication channels between the mainframe at the base of her skull and the rest of her body.

"Shit! Call, stay put, don't touch it!", Ripley looks shocked as Call's skin melts as if it were wax in contact with a candle flame.

In an instant she springs to the ground and is immediately close to her, her healthy hand wipes most of the blood from the young woman's neck, but on the now stricken skin the liquid keeps digging deep, though more slowly.

She wipes both hands on her pants and the acidic residue instantly forms irregular holes in the fabric. The cut caused by the fan's sharp metal, on the other hand, is already healing.

"Do something, Ripley!", Call knows they absolutely must stop the acid's advance as soon as possible. She watches in fright as she runs her hands through her hair, her eyes darting into the emptiness as she tries to come up with an effective solution. Within seconds her expression changes and Call knows she gets something.

"Trust me", Ripley orders. She grabs the young woman in the back of her neck and sinks her open mouth over the affected area. Call begins to struggle, her other arm wraps around her back and holds her still, pressed against herself. With her lips still open on her delicate skin, the clone sucks and washes away any acidic residue with the tip of her tongue. She closes her eyes, the urgency to undo the damage replaced by a more visceral feeling as she clearly hears the moan coming from the android's mouth, inhaling deeply in an attempt to dominate herself, but this only makes it worse as her nostrils pick up the familiar scent of Call.

After a long moment of surprise and puzzlement at Ripley's move, Call can't keep her eyes open any longer and clings to the clone to keep her legs from giving out, unprepared by the way her body is reacting to what the hybrid is doing to her. She feels the woman's warm lips press against her neck, her tongue caressing the damaged area, and the discomfort from the acid disappears beneath the unfamiliar feeling running through her body. A choked sigh, followed by a moan, escapes her mouth, followed by her name. And the way she says her name is totally unheard to her ears.

_-Fuck!-_

The hybrid forces herself to regain control, and after two gentle, shy kisses that she couldn't help but lay on her skin, she pulls away, panting.

"Sorry", she whispers keeping her gaze steady on Call's neck, afraid to look into her eyes. "I didn't know what else to do", she adds brushing her fingertips over the still damp area to check its status. She sees and feels, under her touch, the goose bumps that have formed on her epidermis, and the urge paws one last time in her lower belly.

"It stopped!", Call states in a trembling voice, still clutching the woman.

"Yeah, looks like it", the clone replies, unwillingly taking a step back. "Sorry, Call, I didn't realize you were right behind me", she reiterates. "Are you okay?", she asks, finally looking into her eyes and overcoming the awkwardness of her own actions... and reactions.

Okay, she did the only thing that seemed logical at the time, and thankfully it worked. But she knows she lingered a moment too long, and it was fucking hot, hearing Call react like that. -Cut it out, Ripley!"- she admonishes herself.

"There are lifeline circuits underneath there, Ripley. I panicked", the young woman says, still shaken. "But I'm okay now", she states, now caught in embarrassment. "Really", she reiterates to reassure her. "Come on, let's just load this shit up and get back to the Betty", she prods her, looking for any excuse to get busy and get away from the remnants of what just happened.

——————————

The ride back is spent in a forced silence. It's her fault, after all. She shouldn't have allowed her to get so close. And she shouldn't have reacted when... when her body reacted without her fucking brain realizing it!

She has the perception that all these feelings are frying part of her fucking neural processes! If she didn't know that it has already happened to many other Autons, she would be convinced that what is happening to her is a malfunction of her own system.

She would never have thought this could happen to her. After all these years, she thought she knew herself well. She thought she didn't care. She saw it as a fact so far from her own, to bond with someone in this way, human, Auton, hybrid. But instead… as humans used to say? You could never tell? Ripley has messed up all her beliefs about herself. But how is it possible that the woman doesn't seem to care a damn when she is absolutely anything human?

The clear discomfort of the android confuses Ripley, who is lost in a spiral of thoughts, trying to understand what is going through the girl's head. It was not meant to be anything more than an attempt to save her skin, it was not intended that in the meantime other feelings peeped out from their subconscious.

Yes, from THEIR, because the clone knows very well, that what happened is true for both of them, and given what's going on between them in general, she's not even that surprised. She doesn't understand if the girl is upset about their reactions to each other. She also wonders if she just happened to misunderstand, despite everything. She wonders if her current attitude has anything to do with the android's stupid concept of herself.

Johner peeks out of the hatchway and strides towards them, with an unusually genuine smile, catching sight of the cargo protruding from the back cargo box.

"Hey you found it!", he exclaims, rubbing his hands together.

Call jumps down from the vehicle and without exchanging a word, she walks past Johner and vanishes inside the shuttle.

"What, you didn't put out?", he jokes crudely, addressing the clone.

"Knock it off and help!", Ripley retorts, annoyed more by Call's disappearing that way than by his joke.

And also a little hurt, if she has to admit it, of course, by Call's unfriendly attitude, certainly not by that maniacal idiot's joke.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, you're leaving with them?"  
> "What? You want me to leave?"

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Ripley locks herself in the bathroom to wash off the tiring, - _and not only_ -, day. Call must have passed through her quarters before going missing who knows where. The inside of the shower is still wet. She lingers, under the hot spray.

Maybe she shouldn't have let herself slide like that. But, fuck it, it's not like she thought about it! It was an instinctive reaction! The urgency in Call's voice when she asked for help made her act by sensing that the thing was serious, but what had happened in the meantime had really been completely natural, maybe even inevitable.

And she didn't daydream about the young woman's reaction as much as she didn't daydream about her own! There is just no way she misunderstood! The more she thinks about it, the more certain she is.

But the frustration of the current relationship between them, now that she can think about it with a calmer mind, fades into the background as she realizes in an instant the magnitude of what could have happened a few hours earlier.

Call had told her that right where she had been hit by the blood spatter, vital circuits passed through, she's pretty sure she used those words.

A pang of pain erupts in her abdomen at this thought. She needs to lean against the wall, stricken by the sudden realization. With her hair still damp, she slips on a clean shirt and a pair of briefs, which probably belonged to poor Hillard, and exits the tiny bathroom.

Call is sitting on the cot, the clone is relieved to find her there, and intrigued, because the girl is holding a small rectangular object clutched between her thumb and forefinger. The object is wired to a cable, which in turn is plugged into the jack on her arm.

She doesn't seem to have noticed her presence and the woman lets her do it, mindful of her behavior aboard the Auriga, when she had linked up with Father.

She sits on the edge of the table, crossing her arms, waiting. The whole situation has put her on the defensive, she reconsiders and forces herself to loosen her closed posture and grasps onto the edge of the table, as if to anchor herself in the present. After a few minutes, Call unpluggs the device.

"Hey", the hybrid greets her, sketching a smile in a sign of openness. "What's that?"

"This is a storage unit that contains all the data on Ellen Ripley and you", Call slowly punctuates the words, expecting a nasty reaction from the woman.

But Ripley reacts with controlled restraint. Call has always wondered what it means when you say 'walking on eggshells', now she knows. A pang of regret invades her chest. She knows that attitude is a reaction to her behavior. She wouldn't want to see her so uncomfortable, all the more so because of her.

The hybrid grabs the chair that comes with the table and sits in front of her, serious. She takes the device from her hand and observes it intently.

"Yeah, fair enough", she states, thoughtfully. "For what it's worth, it took me a while, but I came to the same conclusion moments ago", she confesses, trying to keep her tone light. Call has every right, after all, to think about her own safety.

_-Wait, what? -_

Call has no clue what Ripley is saying. She tilts her head to the side, remaining silent, bewildered by the turn the confrontation is taking.

"Thanks, for this", Ripley says, looking at her tenderly. Right now, she really doesn't give a shit about that fucking device. Her past is the least of her worries. It's facing reality and knowing that before long she'll never be able to see one of those beautiful smiles again, or hear her soft voice again, that's what makes her sick now. It's knowing that she will never wake up by her side again. If only she had known that this past morning would be the first and last time that happened....

"So, you're leaving with them?", she asks, accepting the facts and pushing back the lump in her throat. She doesn't want Call to notice. She doesn't want to burden her with anything. Call is not responsible for anything. The fault is hers alone.

"What?" - _what the fuck?!_ -, Call is increasingly confused. "You want me to leave?", Call raises her voice on instinct.

"I almost killed you today!" the clone twists the memory unit in her hands, as confused as Call is now.

"No, no, no. Slow down! What the fuck are you talking about? Ripley, this is just a precaution!", the android points out, pointing to the memory drive. "I'm not going anywhere! You got that?", she hastens to add, fully realizing the woman's concerns.

"Maybe you should", the clone insists, with a serious look on her face.

"Fuck you!", the Auton gets up, unnerved, pacing the tiny room. "What the fuck, Ripley?!", she grits her teeth in a fit of rage that until moments before she thought only that jerk Johner was capable of pulling out of her!

"Call, you were going to die because of my oversight, because of my blood, what if it happens again?", the other adds, defending her point.

The android freezes, leaning towards her, stopping her own face inches from hers. "I don't die, Ripley! I simply cease to function!", she states angrily.

Ripley's features contort slowly, in a vain attempt to tame the tears that begin to stream down her cheeks. Call freezes, worried that she's snapped at her too hard, back to sitting in front of her as the woman throws the device onto the mattress and takes her head in her hands, sobbing.

"Hey", she tells her, softening the tone of her voice as she touches her arm, unsure.

"I'm so tired, Call", Ripley confesses in a choked voice. "Every person I care about ends up dead. I can't take it anymore", she adds shaken by sobs.

"Hey, c'mon, come here, I know, I know", Call leans over the edge of the bunk so she can circle her neck with her arms and draws her closer in an attempt to comfort her.

Ripley clings to her, unable to hold back any longer, lets her tears flow freely, eventually wetting the young woman's shirt.

"I'm not going to end up dead, okay?", the android reassures her, wiping her face with gentle caresses.

"Anyone would be exhausted, Ripley. Even though it's been centuries, it's like a few months for you, since it all started, you haven't even had time to process everything that's happened to you, to mourn the people you've loved", s he speaks to her in a soft, reassuring tone, cradling her in her embrace until she resumes breathing normally.

"How can you… see me so clearly?", she asks after a while, pulling up with her nose. She had never thought about the time factor in her life story, but she feels that what the young woman just told her makes perfect sense.

"I don't know, it comes naturally, I... you've been a part of my life for so long. You're different than I expected, but you're still you, actually better. And I... feel so much for you, I don't even know how to describe it", she admits, free of any embarrassment.

"I don't really know how to describe it either, but I feel it too Call", Ripley confesses, finding herself strangely relieved. After a few moments to regain control, she finally recovers, turning away from her, back to pick up the device, examining it with a long thoughtful sigh.

"So, let me get this straight, you want to stay with me, and you saved all my data in here", Ripley reasons in a controlled voice, lifting the small device, "Just in case you 'cease to function' and can't tell me 'whatever I want to know, whether I want, whenever I want'?", Ripley's sarcastic tone is accentuated by her miming the quotation marks in mid-air.

She watches her spread her arms, as if to confirm what she has just asked, with some dissent at the way she has asked it. The girl's gesture would have made her smile with tenderness, any other time, but not right now. Though she is indeed relieved, that it is going better than she feared.

"You are not my property, Call. You don't belong to anyone but yourself", she tells her, softening the tone of her voice. "Come on, sit down, please", she gently takes her hand and invites her to take a seat on the cot in front of her. She approaches, bringing her chair behind her.

"I don't need this, Call", she tells her, trying to smile, heartened by the sincere and open dialogue she finally feels they're indulging in. She remains silent, looking for the right words for a long moment.

"The past is gone. The today and the tomorrows will be all the days that can be, Call", she says, taking her hands.

"I know who I am. I know what I am. I don't need to know who I was anymore. And certainly, not like this. But I do need to know who you are, because you know so much about me and I still know so little about you, when I want to know everything. And I need to know what you are, Call. How you work, because if you stay with me, I want to be able to take care of you, to protect you. Yes, to fix you, if necessary. I am very aware that you are made of a different matter than I am", she caresses her face and the young woman surrenders to the contact by closing her eyes, a tear rolls down, and she catches it with her thumb. She watches her wet skin.

"Is that a tear?", she asks, watching her nod uncertainly. "And where did it come from?", she observes Call shrugging her shoulders at the rhetorical question, and a new surge of tenderness towards her invades her heart. She brings her thumb to her lips and tastes the liquid, fixing her gaze in the young woman's surprised one.

"It's salty!", the woman exclaims, raising both eyebrows, managing to snatch one of her wonderful smiles. "But even if it wasn't, Call, this is still a tear, don't you agree?", the android shrugs her shoulders once again, but Ripley can tell from her expression that she is more serene now, as she is.

"Come on, I don't know about you, but I need to recharge!", the clone jokes, inviting her to rest. Call snorts an amused laugh, "You should laugh more often, and hide more rarely, while you do it", she remarks, winking at her.

Call bites her lower lip. Ripley has been expecting this, but even so, her body's reaction doesn't change. In fact, now that she's more aware of her emotions and beginning to accept them, it's a lot harder to hold back, dammit!

A twinge of pleasurable pain takes its place in the pit of her stomach and she has no idea how to relieve it, and if she wants, after all, to relieve it.

Maybe she would have one... _-Drop it, Ripley-_

"Drop it, Ripley", Call admonishes her before the woman adds a comment about 'that shit she does with her face', climbing into the hammock.

"Ha, ha, no! Don't even think about it! You have to protect me from my nightmares!" she warns her, shaking her head. She lies down on the bunk, leaving her enough room to lay beside her and extends an arm to welcome her. Call snuggles closer, overcoming the awkwardness of the first time. Ripley holds her close, shutting her eyes, content, indulging for a moment in the ecstatic scent of her skin..

"Is it okay, for you?", she asks, caught by the sudden insecurity that maybe it's too much for her all at once.

"Yes", the young woman confirms. "It feels good. No one's ever held me like this", she confesses, relaxing and returning the hug surrounding her abdomen.

She feels strangely at peace, as if all the battles she has fought in the name of a living species that isn't her own and that only wanted to end her all at once. In Ripley's long arms, she feels safe and… like at home.

"Well, if you like it, you have me, from now on, and as long as you want, and I can hold you like this as many times as you want, for as long as you want", she reassures her softly, caressing her face.

"I like it, a lot", Call whispers blushing.

_-And fuck, if she wants!-_

The tips of her long fingers trace the soft outline of her jaw, her eyes follow the sense of touch, the scent of her skin is no longer as intense as she felt it in that hangar but it' s there, completing the experience of her senses. The memory of her taste is added, mixed with her acid blood.

Fingers descend on her neck and inspect the damage she has unintentionally caused. They look like small moon craters, irregularly shaped, and all together vaguely resemble an unknown constellation. They have not undergone a color change. Within the most severe and deepest one, she can see, in transparency, what lies beneath. She has no idea what it is, and now she doesn't feel like asking, but she will. Soon. She touches them, one by one. The young woman's breathing becomes more uncertain and erratic.

"Stop it", Call whispers, and she retracts her hand, afraid that she's caused her an unpleasant feeling.

"Now I get what you meant, when you told me that the shit I make when I get shy distracts you", Call breaks the silence by blushing.

"Am I distracting you?", she asks, chuckling halfway between satisfied and awkward, moving her face away in order to look at her better.

"A lot, okay?", the young woman admits as she rolls her eyes, making her laugh more openly.

"It's just… I've never felt like this before", the younger confesses honestly, hiding her face in the crock of her neck.

"Me neither", the clone replies, lovingly brushing her forehead with her chin.

"I mean... she felt that way, probably... I mean, she had a child with someone, right? And I happened to dream about somebody she seemed to be bonded to, I think it was just before things got bad", she wrinkles her brow, in an attempt to speak coherently.

"I've got some logs about it, if you want", Call offers, playing distractely with the hem of her shirt, knowing she's referring to Joan Lambert.

"No", Ripley hastens to reply. "I don't need them, Call. I'm not interested in them. What I'm interested in is right in front of me", she smiles sweetly at her. "It's nice to experience this as if it were the first time", she adds in a whisper.

"C'mon", the clone recoils after a short while, "Tomorrow is going to be... an interesting day, I'd say", she comments brushing her nose with the tip of a finger.

"Yes!", the young one confirms, with a wide, bright smile, "I can't wait!", she adds enthusiastically snuggling close against her.

"Then let's have a good recharge, yes?", the woman finally proposes, jokingly, depositing a light kiss on the top of her head and holding her tightly.

She doesn't know how she'll manage to fall asleep, with all the feelings she's experiencing, but she forces herself to close her eyes, tries to synchronize her breathing with hers and slowly finds herself slipping into a peaceful numbness.

When she opens them again, the sun is already filtering through the tiny grate on the ceiling of the room. She can feel the young woman's body resting back to back with her own and the sensation is so comforting that she almost regrets turning away, but the urge to wrap her arms around her gets the better of her and after a while she gives in to the need to hold her tight against her body.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We should take a trip sometime"  
> "Yeah, but forget about making me plunge!"

**CHAPTER NINE**

"They're beautiful, aren't they?", Call exclaims, sharing a mutual look with Ripley as they marvel, side by side, at the view from the Betty's cockpit. The clone can't help herself and reaches out a hand to draw her closer.

She is just as thrilled as she is, at the thought of where they are.

When she'd suggested her idea, nights before, Call had pleasantly surprised her by jumping on her neck. She'd found herself surrounding her tiny frame with her arms, supporting her weight. She had felt so light. It had felt so natural to hold her in her arms.

"You have no idea, Ripley! I've been dreaming of being there for sixty-four years!", she had exclaimed two inches from her face, making her linger on the roundness of her lips.

"Wait, what? Seriously, how old are you?", she had asked, bursting out laughing.

"One hundred and eight!", the android had replied distractedly. "Hey! Don't make that face! You're two hundred and ninety!"

She clasps her hand to her side, smiling, guided by the motion of tenderness that the memory brought to her.

"They're just fucking holes in the ground, people!", Johner looks at them with a half envious, half disgusted look on his face, finally rolling his eyes. _-What a waste of meat!-_ , he muses, before remembering that one of them is a clone with a questionable sense of humor and acid blood, and the other is a fucking robot.

"They're not just fucking holes, you moron!", Vriess apostrophizes him, maneuvering the shuttle some fifty feet above the top of the trees that adorn, along with cenotes and various scattered constructions from both the Mayan and Spanish domination eras, the Yucatan Peninsula.

"They were formed by the impact of the meteor that shaped the Gulf of Mexico. And you won't believe it, but they are all connected by underground canals and the water is always clear and pure!"

"We should take a trip sometime", Ripley whispers in Call's ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Yeah, but forget about making me plunge!", the android retorts in a serious tone.

It's not long before the landscape changes, giving way to a huge expanse of solidified lava rock.

"Did you know that back in the days of the Aztecs, this valley was a lake?", Call asks in a low voice, taking some privacy even among the other two companions. Her hand plays affectionately with Ripley's.

"Not before I began reading your book, but I need to correct you, our friend Mixtli says there were five lakes connected to each other", the hybrid playfully points out, intertwining their fingers together.

Call rolls her eyes, smiling at her.

"What the fuck happened to this place?", Johner asks, looking at the black expanse on the surface.

"In 2249 the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes, southeast of the valley, exploded simultaneously, swallowing everything up to Tenochtitlan, only the northernmost districts escaped the calamity", Call excitedly narrates.

"Tenoc-what?", Vriess asks.

"Mexico City. After decades of diatribe, the population wanted to return to adopting the ancient Aztec name, just as they slowly resumed speaking Nahuatl, abandoning Spanish", the android continues.

"Fucking colonists!", the young man comments with a disgusted face, veering east.

The two women can't tear themselves away from the window, while Betty approaches the archaeological site of Teotihuacan. It is immense and totally deserted, proving that no one has been traveling for tourism for a long time now. Call orders Vriess to touch down not far from the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.

——————————

"One last thing, girls", Vriess stops them, before they get on the ATV and drive away. He leans out of his wheelchair and pulls four identically sized wrappers from under the seat, handing them one each.

"Poor Elgyn had the good sense to secure these before he got himself killed", he declares to the puzzled faces of the two.

Johner jerks away from the wall on which he was leaning, and the bored look of moments before is morphed into an expression of keen interest.

"That's six hundred thousand credits each. They'll come in handy."

"Oh, slow down! What the fuck is this? And what the fuck does Ripley have to do with it? She wasn't part of the deal!", Johner protests, already on the warpath.

"The deal was three hundred and fifty thousand each and three hundred thousand for the maintenance of the Betty!", the boy asserts in a confident manner. He had figured the upset, preparing in advance.

"You want your part as agreed, Johner?", he challenges, watching him deflate and spread his arms.

Call and Ripley snicker in amusement at the altercation, pleased with how Vriess handled the situation.

After a handshake with the boy and a nod to his uncouth companion, still annoyed by the split of the reward, the clone heads towards the ATV, leaving a moment of privacy to Call and Vriess.

It's not long before the youngster reaches her, sniffing up her nose as the Betty lifts off the ground, raising a thick wall of dust and disappearing into the ionosphere in a matter of seconds.

An impulse of tenderness towards her encourages her to hug her at the waist, resting her chin on her shoulder and placing an affectionate kiss on her cheek, when she joins her by getting into the driver's seat.

They ride at a walking pace through the Avenue of the Dead, occasionally remarking on the various buildings parading on either side of it. The vehicle climbs effortlessly up the steep steps of the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun.

The cobblestone floor is no problem, given the amount of blankets they've spread over it. The worn boots of the two cast long shadows not far away.

"So, just so we can figure out what we can aim for, what's one million two hundred thousand credits?", Ripley asks, inviting Call to sit between her legs and encircling her with her long arms.

"Enough to live simply enough, especially if we get a little job on the side", Call replies, handing her a piece of chocolate that Ripley bites straight from her hand. "What would you like to do?", she asks her, as the sun in front of them kisses the horizon.

"Can we afford a kitchen? I've had enough of those shitty military bars!", the clone jokes, making her laugh.

"Well, if we settle in Tlatelolco we could also sell food at the city market, what do you say?", the android proposes.

"Great idea!", the clone comments, already imagining their simple and fulfilling future.

"Do you even know how to cook?", Call asks, turning to face her, amused, with a raised eyebrow.

"I have no fucking clue!", Ripley admits. "But I do know one thing", she adds, enjoying the look of expectation on the girl's soft features. "You handle the knives!", she declares, brushing her neck with her mouth. She likes the rough feeling the burn scar leaves on her lips.

When they woke up that morning, she was concerned, noting that the mark hadn't disappeared overnight. But Call had quickly explained to her, making her laugh at the absurdity of the explanation, that she hadn't wanted to 'bother' her nanobots with something so small.

Now that she thinks about it, though, she reckons she knows why the young woman didn't get rid of that mark.

"You know what? I like it, this burn", she whispers to her, kissing her gently again in that spot. Call presses against her, surrendering to the contact.

"I like it too", the girl confirms.

"I know", the other retorts in a vaguely cocky tone, making her giggle. "You have to do something, though, at least about the deeper one, because I really wouldn't know how to justify that weird thing glimpsed underneath", the clone points out, gently pushing away the hand the young woman instinctively brought to her neck, as if to cover a flaw.

"Don't. It's just us", she tells her, smiling quietly.

"Us... I like that", the girl states, smiling.

"And I think I'd even like to take a road trip for a few days to one of those cenotes, you know?", she confesses to her, thrilled.

"No way!", the clone exclaims with surprise.

"Yeah! I don't either! But I know that if you stay close, I might even get a swim. I feel safer with you around", she declares softening her voice.

"Then I promise I'll stick to you", the woman whispers hugging her close.

Soft lips linger on her forehead, then slide over the tip of her nose. Call closes her eyes briefly, only to open them again into Ripley's.

She would so want to focus on her gaze, but she just can't avoid the lingering glances that land on the young woman's lips. She covers one of her cheeks, extending her thumb over her mouth needing to touch them.

She is so caught up in her own desire that it takes Call's mimicking to realize that the young woman is moved by the same impulse. The look of wonder in her eyes as she feels her fingertips on her lips makes her abandon any purpose in holding back. There is no point in doing this, not anymore.

So she leans slowly, as Call reaches her halfway. It's easy, like coming home and setting yourself free, though neither of them has ever really experienced that simple act of everyday life, at least, until now.

——————————

All along the way, both going there and coming back, Ripley teased her about making up her mind to want to visit a cenote, when by now they were over a thousand miles from the Yucatan Peninsula.

"Couldn't you have been bold when we were flying over the area with the Betty?"

And they both burst out laughing for the umpteenth time. The ATV trip lasted several weeks. They took their time.

Ripley was good at hunting, Call was good at orientation.

"Easy, when you have the entire map of the earth saved in your wonderful brain"

A couple of times the girl took a wrong turn on purpose, just to see how the clone reacted.

It was so easy to joke with each other, so easy to let their relationship flourish, to let it flow in such a natural way.

They avoided the towns for that long trip. They just wanted to build their 'US'. As if they couldn't get enough of each other.

The first time they plunged into the clear water of the Ik Kil cenote, Ripley never let go of her gentle grip on Call, initially clinging to her like a frightened baby monkey, finally feeling free to show her fear and vulnerability.

After several days of 'shock therapy', they both enjoyed climbing down the vines, each time letting themselves fall from a greater height.

Then they jumped straight off the edge, playing at chasing each other, even free diving.

Until they became so familiar with the water that most of the time they found themselves laced together, risking drowning because they were too busy doing something else, rather than staying afloat.

——————————

They moved back toward Tenochtitlan at some point, Call could speak fluent Nahuatl and Ripley learned it slowly over the years.

They found a way to get fake names and documents, not that bureaucracy mattered much anymore. But it was an obligatory precaution, to say the least. Only in their moments of intimacy and solitude could they not help but call each other as they were accustomed to doing.

They settled into a small, two-room apartment just north of Tlatelolco. They soon discovered that the clone didn't do too badly at all in the kitchen, as long as they didn't put a knife in her hand. But cutting ingredients, they agreed, was Call's job.

Occasionally Ripley would ignore this rule, just to do something forbidden. On a few occasions, she was unlucky enough to perforate a couple of pans, the very good ones, and even worse, irreparably ruin the cutting edge of Call's favorite knives, and had to buy lunch for a whole month for the friend who managed to get her some good quality chocolate, to make up for it.

Actually, they both knew there was no need to make up for anything, but the ritual was fun. It reminded them of those early days when they had grown bonded, in spite of their many differences.

For four days a week, they provided lunch to a number of regular customers who were busy in neighboring factories. They would join them on their trusty ATV. Esquites, Tamales and Nopales were never lacking on their daily menu.

Not infrequently, it happened that some of their clients, not necessarily male, paid one or the other a few 'too many' compliments, ignoring the relationship that the two did not make the slightest effort to hide. All those who tried, however, soon tired of pushing. The two were unequivocally committed and vowed to each other. And everyone agreed, some grudgingly, that they were indeed a very beautiful couple.

They paid lip service to the fact that it was a fair precaution and a good cover when they decided to make their union official, but they knew it was just excuses. They didn't need it, but they both wanted it.

Every now and then there were families who, after ordering their food, sat down to eat it not far away. Sometimes there were children, and Ripley's gaze turned slightly dark in these occasions, and Call always noticed it, saddened in turn by empathy and helplessness. At one time, Call had even suggested to think about a solution such as foster care, for example, but as they thought about it together, they realized that, in a sense, they would never be completely free from the risk of being discovered or detected. It was not appropriate to expose a child to such danger and what would follow. Fortunately, these were rare moments, compared to the serene and carefree ones, and by supporting each other, they always managed to overcome "the bad day".

At least once a month, they would return to Teotihuacan, away from everyone. They seemed to never get enough of reliving and remembering their first night on top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

——————————

After almost twenty years, they were forced to move, not knowing how to justify the fact that neither of them was aging. To tell the truth, Ripley was beginning to have a few white strands in her thick hair, but they were so few that the only people who could notice them were her and Call.

Call, for her part, externally was still the same. She had no idea how much longer she would live. There were no reports that any of her kind had ever ceased to function from natural causes.

Slowly she had educated Ripley on her physiology and how she operated.

A couple of times the clone had chickened out, failing to wake her up in the morning. Call had warned her that it could happen, when, through wear and tear, some internal part would suddenly become damaged and her body would freeze her in that state until the nanobots had repaired the damage. But even knowing that, she couldn't help but watch over her all the time with the constant terror that she would never wake up again.

Call periodically kept in touch with other Autons who had escaped the Recall, but she was not interested in forming closer relationships. Her life with Ripley totally fulfilled her.

Their favorite time of day was when Ripley would sit in their huge, comfortable armchair in the evenings, Call would curl up in her lap, and they would read together. They had started with "Aztec", soon after settling in Tenochtitlan, the only paper book they had ever owned, then they had switched to digital, due to the impossibility of finding other physical volumes.

And their today and tomorrows always began with excitement from them, even if what they had planned for the current day was just another morning in the kitchen and then serving meals around downtown.

**_THE END_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, if you want.  
> It will be really appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading.


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